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Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ upcoming visit to Kenosha on Wednesday came together quickly last week, with Carthage College taking advantage of a rare opportunity to become involved in the national conversation.

With the presidential primary a little over a week away, the Sanders campaign contacted the college, inquiring about possibly using Carthage’s facilities for a town hall meeting, according to Molly Polk, the college’s vice president for communications.

She said within an hour she gave them a tour of the campus, and they decided to move forward with having the campaign stop in the N.E. Tarble Athletic Center, which holds about 2,500 people.

“I contacted (Carthage) President (Gregory) Woodward, and after talking through the logistics, he decided this was a special opportunity for our students and campus community to witness and engage in our election process,” she said.

“We know there will be some inconveniences as we figure out logistical details such as parking, but we feel this is a rare learning experience that will allow our students to actually participate in a national conversation with a presidential candidate on our campus.”

Polk said Sanders’ advance team didn’t specifically say why they chose Carthage.