Campuses Adjusting to Political Conventions

As the Democratic National Convention has taken over Denver this week, higher ed institutions in the downtown area have responded to the political frenzy primarily with closings, according to an article in The State News.
The Auraria Higher Education Center, a campus for the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and the University of Colorado Denver Downtown Denver Campus, has shut down operations this week. In anticipation of the conference, the fall 2008 semester began earlier than usual; classes will resume this Saturday. The article lists that 40,000 faculty, students, and staff from all three institutions will be effected by the campus closing.
The University of Colorado at Denver was reported to have some student housing outside campus, with only residents being permitted inside the gated community, being guarded 24/7. Officials at Metropolitan State have planned volunteer/social activities to maintain student involvement despite the campus shutdown. At Colorado Technical University, criminal justice classes have been canceled because instructors who are also police officers are working on convention-related security.
So, what will happen for Minnesota higher ed institutions, when the Republican party kicks off its convention in the state next week? Well, for example, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has been listing information on its website so employees who work in downtown St. Paul are aware of security-related changes such as parking. Concordia University, which is close to downtown Saint Paul, also says on its website that the campus may be affected by the GOP's convention activities. In a Pioneer Press article, Macalester College administrators denied a student group's request to allow crowds of people from around the country to camp out on the school's green or bunk together indoors, citing too many health and safety concerns. Instead, visitors will be allowed to stay in residence halls with individual students under the rules that apply to overnight guests.