Khizr Khan will appear at Old Cabell Hall Tuesday to talk about his experiences as a Muslim-American on the Miller Center broadcast of “American Forum.”
While most tapings of “American Forum” happen at the Miller Center, Tuesday’s event will be held at Old Cabell Hall due to a large expected crowd.
Khan gained national attention when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in July. His son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, graduated from the University in 2000 before he was killed in Iraq in 2004. Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala now live in Charlottesville and are involved in the University’s Reserve Officer Training Corps, or ROTC, program.
Khan’s appearance at Old Cabell Hall has prompted changes to some of the Miller Center’s procedures, Research Director for Public and Policy Programs Cristina Lopez-Gottardi Chao said.
University police, as well as contracted RMC Events staff — the same company whose staff comprises the Ambassadors on the Corner — will be present to provide security for the event.
“That’s not because we’re expecting anything of concern, but just because there will be larger numbers and venue than we are typically used to accommodating, and for that reason we are just getting extra staff on hand,” Chao said.
Executive producer and host of American Forum Douglas A. Blackmon said bringing Khan to Central Grounds presents an unusual circumstance.
“What is happening tomorrow is different as almost all guests come primarily to the Miller Center itself and we tape the television show with a live audience in a studio space that we have at the Miller Center,” Blackmon said. “So just by the nature of bringing Mr. Khan into Central Grounds and into a different venue, it’s different to begin with.”
“American Forum” has had high profile guests before, hosting presidential hopefuls Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Bernie Sanders, as well as Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson in the past year. However, security for high profile figures is nothing new to the University.
“We’ve had security in place whenever we’ve had any of the presidential candidates come through, and certainly in this election season where things are just a bit unusual and highly polarized,” Chao said.
Blackmon said the Miller Center has a process of crowd management when anticipating a large crowd.
“We’re very expert at managing very large crowds for these kinds of events, and so we assume this will fall into that category, and we will certainly be prepared for that,” Blackmon said.
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