The University of Notre Dame has become the second university to cancel their role as host of one of this fall’s three scheduled presidential debates amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The university was set to host the inaugural face-off between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Sept. 29 but canceled the event this week.
The first debate will be instead be moved to Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday.
The commission has selected Cleveland Clinic as its health adviser for all three presidential debates and the one scheduled vice presidential debate.
In a release, Notre Dame President the Rev. John Jenkins said the university made “this difficult decision because the necessary health precautions would have greatly diminished the educational value of hosting the debate on our campus.”
“I am grateful to the many members of the university community who have devoted countless hours planning this event…but in the end, the constraints the coronavirus pandemic put on the event – as understandable and necessary as they are – have led us to withdraw.”
The University of Michigan was scheduled to host the second presidential debate but withdrew last month. That debate will now be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami.
The Associated Press contributed to this article