Former presidential candidates Howard Dean and Rick Santorum will debate "The Role of Government in a Free Society" Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall. ILR School senior lecturer Sam Nelson, director of the Cornell Forensics Society, will moderate the debate.

Free, required tickets will be available Sept. 28 at the Willard Straight Hall Ticket Office.

Former Vermont governor, a physician and a 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, Dean chaired the Democratic National Committee 2005-09. Dean was among the first national candidates to use the Internet for campaign organizing and fundraising. He lost his presidential race to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

Livestreaming video of debate
Livestreaming video of the Howard Dean and Rick Santorum debate will be available on CornellCast. The event has been sold out.

Santorum, a lawyer, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990. He served as a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania 1995-2007. He suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination last spring and later endorsed nominee Mitt Romney.

The event is part of the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation Great Debate Series and is sponsored by Cornell College Democrats, Cornell College Republicans, the Young America's Foundation, the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs and the Department of Policy Analysis and Management.