MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ broadcast brews excitement on campus

It was just after 5 a.m. Tuesday when every television monitor in the Shocker Hall dining hall displayed student Larry Harmon waving a large black and yellow sign that read “WSU.”

Harmon, a sophomore, braved the early morning hours to attend the airing of MSNBC’s, “Morning Joe” that was broadcast live from 5 to 8 a.m. Tuesday at Wichita State.

“I was in the back and in the middle, so camera two could see me,” Harmon said. “I was standing on a chair and I had a WSU sign that was handed to me, and I was apparently going a little too crazy.”

A producer from behind the camera was looking straight at Harmon, with his finger pointed, urging him to get down.

“I realized … is he just going to kick me out? I didn’t know.”

The producer then came around from the camera, took his sign and told him to get down from the chair for safety purposes.  

Students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community arrived outside Shocker Hall around 4 a.m. for free “Morning Joe” coffee mugs, shocker basketball tickets, food and coffee.

Mascot WuShock lit up the mob of Shockers as the cameramen meandered through a sea of black and yellow. As hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski spoke on air, the crowd quieted, but quickly regained energy at the mere mention of “… live from Wichita State University.”

The aroma of fresh brewed “morning joe” and baked muffins filled the entire dining hall, and students could be seen studying in between crowds of people.  

The broadcast drew more than student and administrative attention. Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell was in attendance, and said he would never pass up the national exposure that “Morning Joe” brought to Wichita.

“You can’t buy this kind of exposure to be able to showcase our community in a number of different ways, and one of those ways is Wichita State,” Longwell said.

The dining hall was filled from wall to wall at the show’s start around 5 a.m., then dwindled just after 6 a.m. WSU President John Bardo and men’s basketball head coach Gregg Marshall arrived just after 7 a.m. and interacted with a crowd of fans.

MSNBC selected WSU for the show’s location when an interview with Charles Koch brought “Morning Joe” hosts Scarborough and Brzezinski to Wichita.

MSNBC producers were looking for a place to broadcast from, and Koch Industries recommended Wichita State as a location.

University officials and producers looked at three on-campus locations: the atrium of Koch Arena, the first floor of the Rhatigan Student Center and Shocker Hall. Vice President of Strategic Communications, Lou Heldman, recommended the Shocker Hall dining hall, to which MSNBC producers agreed.

“Having 750 students living right next door, I thought this would be a great location and it turned out I was right,” Heldman siad.

MSNBC producers started setting up at 10 a.m. the previous morning, and Heldman said he was surprised to see about 15 people unloading and setting up due to the fair amount of equipment. He said with the help of the Residence Life and WSU Physical Plant for technical assistance, producers were able to set up an entire live TV studio inside the dining area of Shocker Hall.

“The [Morning Joe] technical manager said that our people, all throughout the university, were spectacular to work with,” Heldman said. “That made me feel good, that they got such great reception from people all around campus.”

Harmon was the third person to receive men’s basketball tickets and said it was worth bearing the morning hours.

“It’s been just a really new experience … they need to do this more often. It’s such an upbeat environment,” he said with wide eyes as the screaming crowd behind him interrupted.