Debate Day greeted Farmville and Longwood University with cool weather and sunny skies as reporters, editor, camera operators and more arrived to cover Tuesday’s Vice Presidential Debate.

Just before 11 a.m., a smattering of the 2,000 total journalists expected to be in Farmville started finding their places in Longwood’s Media Center — a completely transformed Health & Wellness Center. Each workstation includes a a work light, network cable and power strip. Also at each spot: A copy of “Where History Happens,” Longwood’s guide to Longwood and Farmville’s history and a guide to the debate.

Flat screens on raised towers will allow reporters and editors to watch the debate Tuesday night. During the day, they displayed #LongwoodDebate social media streams. Some networks also setup their own monitors for their staffs to use.

Among  the most important resources in the Media Center are student volunteers, including Erin Slayton, who was born and raised in Farmville. For Slayton, a junior majoring in history with a concentration in secondary education and minoring in political science, volunteering for the debate was a natural choice.

“I want to be a high school history teacher,” Slayton said. “I’ll be able to tell my students I was actually here.”

And will she. Not only is Slayton working in the Media Center, but on Tuesday night she will be an usher in the Debate Hall and won one of the 100 tickets to watch the debate in a student raffle Sunday night.

“I wasn’t actually there, but I got five phone calls from my friends telling me I had won. It’s a big honor to represent the university,” she said.

Meanwhile, Slayton is helping media representatives find their spots in the Media Center.

“I’ve been working here since Friday,” she said. “It’s been interesting to meet people from all the networks and see all the equipment they’re bringing in and answer all they’re questions.”

Questions have ranged from how to get across campus — not as easy on Tuesday as it was Monday — to where to go on Main Street.

“They’ve been saying things like, ‘You should film a movie on Main Street; it’s so beautiful with the architecture,” Slayton said.

She said one media representative even had to ask her for help in finding bed and breakfast to stay in while in Farmville.

Slayton is also acting as a Longwood Ambassador, providing tours to prospective students and their parents.

“They ask a lot of questions, too, like is this or that event open to the public or how the classes have benefitted and how students are coping with the debate,” she said.

The Media Center will continue to fill up as the debate hour — 9 p.m. — draws ever closer.