W&L “Mock Con” Documentary to Air on Virginia Public TV Stations
Election season is here—there’s no escaping the daily headlines announcing who’s leading in the polls for the race to the White House.
Paying close attention to the presidential race are the students of Washington and Lee University. Every four years, they hold their own Mock Convention, a simulated presidential nominating convention with the goal of predicting who the party out of power in the White House will nominate to run for president of the U.S.
Mock Con, as W&L’s students refer to it, has correctly picked the eventual nominee of the party out of power 19 of the past 25 presidential elections, and the candidates or their campaign leaders have taken notice. The 2016 event takes place on Feb. 11 and 12.
Last February, the 2016 Mock Con’s student organizers premiered a historical documentary of the W&L Mock Convention on campus. Based on the treasure trove of historical documents, photographs and film housed in the university’s Special Collections, it recounts the history, drama and inspiration of 25 mock presidential conventions.
Narrated by author and former CBS newsman Roger Mudd (a 1950 graduate of W&L) and funded by W&L’s Class of 1953, “Mock Con” will air on public television stations in Virginia beginning Oct. 22.
Broadcasts of “Mock Con” in the Richmond area will take place on WCVE-TV 23. In Charlottesville, WHTJ-TV 41 airs it on Oct. 22 at 9 p.m. and Oct. 25 at 4 p.m.
Harrisonburg/Front Royal/Lexington/Lynchburg stations WVPT-TV 51/WVPY-TV 42 will air the program Nov. 5 at 8 p.m., and Norfolk-based WHRO-TV 15 will broadcast it Nov. 15 at 8 p.m.
