ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) — In the political arena, Winthrop University has been on the map for a while. The university releases major political polls during elections which have gained the small college international attention.
Winthrop will be in the spotlight Friday night as three Democratic candidates for president appear on campus for a nationally televised event.
The campus has been preparing for weeks and police will "lock down" the auditorium where the candidates will be.
Tickets vanished quickly at the more than 3,000-seat Byrnes Auditorium, where cable network MSNBC will televise the forum.
Channel 9 was told that Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley will each appear on stage individually, and answer questions in a sit-down interview.
Winthrop officials said landing the event was a year in the making, and the university's visibility when it comes to politics didn't hurt.
They worked with the Democratic Party to convince them that the university was a perfect venue, said spokesman Jeff Perez.
“The fact that our political science department has such a great reputation increased the comfort level of everybody involved, to know that they're going to be dealing with experts," Perez said. "The Winthrop poll is a perfect example of that."
Channel 9 watched crews spruce up the 6,000-student campus Thursday. Others unloaded 18-wheelers full of TV production gear and transformed Byrnes Auditorium into a stage for presidential hopefuls.
Rock Hill police said dozens of extra officers will be on hand, including South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and Secret Service agents. They will keep roads outside of campus open, but interior roads are already shut down and barricades in place.
"Winthrop carries most of the load, but we'll have Rock Hill police, York County Sheriff's Office, the State Law Enforcement Division, the Secret Service, and the South Carolina Highway Patrol," said police spokesman Mark Bollinger.
Students will not be restricted on campus Friday.
Student Erica Robertson managed to get a lucky seat on stage. She's thrilled.
"A lot of us got an email that the Democratic Party wanted some Winthrop students on stage, and I was one of the lucky few. I'm excited about it," she said.
Others students were curious, watching the campus turned into a media circus. About 200 reporters and camera crews are expected by Friday afternoon.
Hanna Shands is a new freshman.
"I never thought this would happen at Winthrop. We're a tiny school so you don't think that they would come here," she said.
Lukas Ferrell, also a freshman, said this shows college students are important to the election.
"Everybody in the country is going to be seeing the campus and seeing the school, and they're going to associated it with something big," he said.
The event starts at 8 p.m., but it's not the only political event on Winthrop's campus Friday.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a frequent visitor to Rock Hill, will take part in a forum on campus at noon.
Roughly 3,300 people got tickets in advance for the Democratic forum. Those ticket holders are asked to park at the Winthrop Coliseum. They will take shuttles back and forth.
There won't be much room for anyone to park on the main campus.
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