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January 26, 2007 > News > Student tickets capped at 300

Student tickets capped at 300

180 other Rice affiliates, 300 VIP’s to see Clinton speak

By Grace Ng | Thresher staff

Less than 10 percent of Rice undergraduates will be able to see former president Bill Clinton speak in Stude Concert Hall Feb. 8, but about 20 of them will have a photo opportunity with the ex-president before his speech.

According to Managing Director for Programs and International Studies Mark Scheid, 781 tickets will be distributed for the speech.

Of those, 300 have been allotted for Rice students, 180 seats will go to other Rice-affiliated guests and 300 are reserved for VIP’s, Baker Institute for Public Policy Roundtable members, local officials and Clinton’s invitees.

Ambassador Edward Djerejian, the Director of the Baker Institute — which is hosting the event — said many people have complained about the limitations of the venue. The institute has received more than 2000 RSVPs.

“My ideal would be that all Rice students are admitted to this event,” Djerejian said. “All they [would] have to do is to show their student ID card. We do everything we can do to accommodate the students at Rice because we want the students to fully benefit from the Baker Institute.”

Clinton’s speech will air live on RTV-5 and channel 13. In addition, Djerejian said Baker Hall and the Grand Hall in the Student Center will be open as overflow venues where students and other Rice-affiliated people can watch the event on a live broadcast.

The Baker Institute Student Forum, a student group that organizes policy-related events for students and represents students to the Institute, is managing R.S.V.P.’s for students. BISF Chair Elena Charnetzki said the 300 student tickets to the actual speech event will be distributed by BISF through a random selection process.

“We received a record number of R.S.V.P.’s — over 1000,” Charnetzki, a Jones College senior, said.

Students who receive a ticket will be contacted directly by e-mail.

Many groups, including Baker Institute staff, BISF members and Rice Ambassadors have been asked to volunteer at the event to usher guests and handle refreshments.

A photo session with Clinton will be held at the International Conference Facility, located in Baker Hall, before the speech.

According to an e-mail from Baker Institute Events Coordinator Ryan Kirksey, the college presidents, two members of BISF and the presidents of the Student Association, Graduate Student Association, College Republicans, Young Democrats, College Libertarians and Rice Vote Coalition have been invited to this closed event. There will be coffee, and the invited students will take a group photo with Clinton, but no arrangements for interviews or discussions have been made.

“The decision of whom to invite was made by the staff of the Baker Institute in order to best represent the student body as a whole,” Kirksey said.

Scheid said Autry Court — a much bigger venue that can accommodate up to 5,600 — has been used for past Baker Institute speakers such as President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak in 2004 but will not be used for Clinton because of a Rice basketball game the night before.

Setting up up for Clinton’s speech will take 36 hours, and the game makes completing security procedures before the event nearly impossible, Scheid said. In addition, Autry has many entrances, making it difficult to secure.

Djerejian said the construction of a dedicated convocation center would help reduce restrictions on attendance at future events.

“The problem we have is there is no conference center at Rice whereby we could accommodate the audiences who really have an interest in seeing some of our top speakers,” he said.

Djerejian said an ideal venue would accommodate 2,000 people and could be used not only for the Baker Institute but also for faculty conferences and student events.

Many security measures are being taken to protect Clinton. The Secret Service will make recommendations and make several high-level, pre-speech security sweeps that will include the use of dogs.

The lecture starts at 3 p.m., but guests should arrive early and must be seated by 2:30 p.m. Valid photo identification, such as a Rice ID, is required for admission. No personal belongings or cellular phones will be allowed into Stude Concert Hall.

All attendees will also be required to pass through metal detectors, and the Secret Service will decide on any additional security precautions. Special traffic and parking arrangements will be announced at a later date.

Clinton will have an entourage of about 8 to 10 people, but Hillary Clinton will not be in attendance. The topic of the speech has not yet been determined and will be decided closer to the event.

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