Virginia State may be bumped from the presidential debate lineup. That’s not right.

In November 2023, Virginia State University proudly announced that the Commission on Presidential Debates had selected the school to host one of three university-based presidential debates.

“We have been selected as one of the 2024 Presidential Debate sites,” the institution posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We are honored to serve as the first HBCU to host a General Election U.S. Presidential Debate.”

Many VSU students, alumni and other supporters congratulated the Petersburg, Virginia, school, recognizing a historic achievement. VSU President Makola M. Abdullah had initially assigned Eldon Burton, assistant vice president of government relations, to apply for a national presidential debate in 2021 as VSU was hosting a televised Democratic gubernatorial debate. Unfortunately for Virginia State – and historically Black colleges and universities everywhere – the history-making event may not happen. Two other universities that were counting on hosting commission debates, Texas State University and the University of Utah, also may be out of luck.

Debate negotiations, which have been going on for months, reached a crescendo of sorts in mid-May. President Joe Biden announced he would not participate in the traditional series of nationally televised events organized by the bipartisan commission, which scheduled the debates at Virginia State and the other universities. He and the Democratic National Committee don’t think they can trust a group that lost control when Biden and former President Donald Trump debated during the last election cycle.

Instead, Biden, Trump and their campaigns agreed to two debates, one to be hosted by CNN on June 27 and a second to be hosted by ABC on Sept. 10. Neither the debate commission nor Virginia State was included on that debate card.

Since Virginia State was selected by the commission to host a presidential debate, that seems to leave VSU out. Or does it?

Virginia State hasn’t given up. The Trojans still have a presidential debate website providing information about the Oct. 1 event.

According to Gwen Williams Dandridge, assistant vice president for communications at Virginia State, “We are still in talks with the CPD. We will release more information once we receive an update.”

It seems Biden and Trump have cast aside the idea of doing any debates with the commission. Maybe the commission might seriously address campaign concerns and guarantee the format and rules will be followed. I doubt that would include a trap door for a candidate who doesn’t cooperate, but the commission would have to come close for Biden to agree to work with the group.

If they feel that strongly about the commission’s inability to oversee a fair, top-quality, informative debate, Biden and Trump can do what they’ve done with the television networks: They can negotiate with those debate partners and insist that VSU be one of the locations for the scheduled debates or another debate.

Trump has suggested a debate hosted by Fox on Oct. 2, the day after the VSU debate that was scheduled by the commission. Maybe Virginia State can welcome the leading presidential candidates to campus by agreeing to change the date – with a non-commission, agreed-upon partner less likely to rile the VSU Trojan faithful.

With an audience or without, Virginia State should be included as a debate host.

“HBCUs are anchor institutions within our communities. Canceling the presidential debate at Virginia State University would represent a missed opportunity to bring national attention to the importance of our incredible institutions,” Hampton University President Darrell K. Williams told Andscape in a statement. “I sincerely hope that visits to HBCUs will feature prominently in the national election cycle and beyond.”

Atiba Madyun, a 1994 Virginia State alum, is a Miami business executive who runs the Madyun Group, a public affairs firm that focuses on health care and policy. He told Andscape it was “exciting” when the debate was announced, but he was not surprised when he heard the news about other debates being scheduled.

“Both candidates will spend a lot of time in Virginia because it’s a swing state,” he said. “I would hope that Dr. Abdullah would extend invitations to both candidates to visit the campus.”

Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an in-studio debate invitation from CBS to debate Trump’s yet-to-be-determined vice presidential candidate on July 23 or Aug. 13 at a place to be agreed upon.

Though it might not be the presidential candidates, I know an institution that might love to host such a debate in Petersburg. The Virginia State University Multi-Purpose Center is a state-of-the-art facility with all the things a television network should need.

In the most recent U.S. Census, Black people made up nearly 19% of Virginia’s population. There are more than 47 million Black people in the United States. I know Biden and Trump aren’t likely to go to Camden, New Jersey; East St. Louis, Missouri; or Jackson, Mississippi. They should visit – and debate – in one of our backyards.

Virginia State shouldn’t be shut out.