Spring Break
Clinton event moved to larger venue
by Jacob Kamaras
Senior Editor
News | 11/13/07
Posted online at 9:14 PM EST on 11/12/07
/ Last updated at 6:31 PM EST on 11/12/07
The administration moved former President Bill Clinton's Dec. 3 address from the Shapiro Gymnasium to the larger gym in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center after receiving permission to do so from the Secret Service, the security force that protects all current and former presidents, University President Jehuda Reinharz said last Friday.
The new venue can accommodate all students, faculty and staff who register for tickets, University Spokesperson Lorna Miles said.
The Shapiro Gym, Gosman's smaller facility, which was used for former President Jimmy Carter's speech last January, holds roughly 1,700 people. The main area can accommodate approximately 4,000 chairs and 1,800 additional seats in the bleachers, Miles said.
"I made the decision [to move the speech to the larger area] this past week after we had conversations with the Secret Service, and they determined that it would be ok to move it to the larger venue and that the security issues can be taken care of within the larger arena," Reinharz said.
Miles wrote in a campus wide e-mail Wednesday night that over 4,000 undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff had already signed up for the online lottery for Clinton's speech before the location change was announced, which would have left more than half the people who registered for the event without seats, had it remained in the Shapiro Gym.
Reinharz said he contacted the Secret Service to pursue moving the Clinton event once he saw the enormous demand it attracted.
"Once they gave us the go-ahead, there was no reason not to move it to the larger arena," he said.
Online registration for tickets to Clinton's speech closes at midnight today, Miles wrote. The original deadline to register for the lottery was midnight Nov. 4. Those who have registered will be able to pick up tickets starting Monday, Nov. 26, she wrote.
Clinton will speak in honor of the late Eli Segal '64, his former adviser in whose memory a new Citizen Leadership Program in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management was recently established. The speech is the inaugural memorial lecture for the program.
The new venue can accommodate all students, faculty and staff who register for tickets, University Spokesperson Lorna Miles said.
The Shapiro Gym, Gosman's smaller facility, which was used for former President Jimmy Carter's speech last January, holds roughly 1,700 people. The main area can accommodate approximately 4,000 chairs and 1,800 additional seats in the bleachers, Miles said.
"I made the decision [to move the speech to the larger area] this past week after we had conversations with the Secret Service, and they determined that it would be ok to move it to the larger venue and that the security issues can be taken care of within the larger arena," Reinharz said.
Miles wrote in a campus wide e-mail Wednesday night that over 4,000 undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff had already signed up for the online lottery for Clinton's speech before the location change was announced, which would have left more than half the people who registered for the event without seats, had it remained in the Shapiro Gym.
Reinharz said he contacted the Secret Service to pursue moving the Clinton event once he saw the enormous demand it attracted.
"Once they gave us the go-ahead, there was no reason not to move it to the larger arena," he said.
Online registration for tickets to Clinton's speech closes at midnight today, Miles wrote. The original deadline to register for the lottery was midnight Nov. 4. Those who have registered will be able to pick up tickets starting Monday, Nov. 26, she wrote.
Clinton will speak in honor of the late Eli Segal '64, his former adviser in whose memory a new Citizen Leadership Program in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management was recently established. The speech is the inaugural memorial lecture for the program.
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