While students travel to warmer climes for Spring Break, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will be visiting Syracuse University for an entirely different reason.

On March 14, Clinton will attend The Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs Dedication Symposia, which is sponsored by the Maxwell School of Citizenship Moynihan Institute itself.

The dedication comes at a time when most students will not be in the Syracuse area and will therefore not be able to attend. This was planned, however, by the members of the Dean’s Office at the Maxwell School who helped plan the dedication, said Jill Leonhardt, director of communications and media relations at the Maxwell School.

‘They did it intentionally so rooms will be available,’ she said. ‘It’s harder to make rooms available while students are here.’

Political science professor Heidi Swarts said former president Bill Clinton may also be present at the event.

The dedication will include four hours of discussion, with topics ranging from outsourcing and ‘globally mobile workers and workplaces’ to a dialogue entitled ‘The Future of the Family,’ according to the Moynihan Institute’s Web site.

The Moynihan Institute was founded in 1993 in the Maxwell School in order to increase students’ and the faculty’s knowledge of global, governmental challenges that face nations today.

According to the Web site, it is the center of all global and international research that takes place at the Maxwell School. It also aims to guide students and faculty in their research efforts regarding issues of interdependence among diverse cultures, governments and economic systems around the world.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan was a Democratic New York Senator who was first elected to the Senate in 1976 and served four terms. He was succeeded in the Senate by Sen. Clinton and passed away in March of 2003, according to the Internet encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Because of a large endowment in his name, the Institute was named after him, the Moynihan Institute’s Web site stated.

Though junior political science major Matt Carstensen lives close to the Syracuse area, he said he will not be able to attend the dedication due to a job he will be occupied with during Spring Break.

‘I think it’s ridiculous,’ he said in regards to the timing of the dedication. ‘(The university) brings all these speakers here and none of the students really see any of (them), but you bring Hillary Clinton during Spring Break and a lot of students are going to want to see her.’

Carstensen said he is not a big fan of Sen. Clinton, but still said he would attend the event if he was in the Syracuse area for the dedication.

‘I would absolutely go,’ he said. ‘My tuition money’s going completely to waste.’

Published on March 2, 2005 at 12:00 pm