GU LIFE Long Waits in Ticket Lines Students Wait for Joel, Clinton Tickets By Laila Al-Arian Hoya Staff Writer
Charles Nailen/The Hoya Brad O’Brien (COL ’02) and friends elanie Finn (MSB ’04) and Auggie Bartning (SFS ’02) study after arriving at 10:45 a.m. for tickets to Clinton’s speech that were given out at 8 p.m. in Leavey yeste
Taking a blanket, pillow, radio and laptop with her, Cindy Rivera (MSB ’05) spent Saturday night in front of the Georgetown Bookstore in the Leavey Center watching movies and chatting with friends.
Rivera and 150 other students stayed in Leavey overnight on Saturday, sprawled out in line and hoping to get tickets to see Former President Bill Clinton (SFS ’68) speak in Gaston Hall on Wednesday.
Students began camping out around 9 p.m., using chairs from Sellinger Lounge, Uncommon Grounds and the Fast Break dining area. They were spread from the Leavey lobby past Bulldog Alley and around the corner to the Starbucks kiosk.
“People are particularly excited about seeing Clinton and I think that was evident just by the sheer number of people looking for a spot,” Lecture Fund President Brian McCabe (SFS ’02) said. Clinton’s speech is co-sponsored by the Lecture Fund and the School of Foreign Service.
Amrita Dirghangi (COL ’05) said that while it was worth spending the night at Leavey to attend Clinton’s speech, the experience was not always pleasant.
“People were playing music until six in the morning, talking really loudly.” Dirghingi added that Fast Break personnel woke them at nine in the morning to ask the students waiting to return furniture moved the night before back to Sellinger Lounge.
Sumeet Mitter (COL ’05) said he thought many students are excited to see Clinton because of the former president’s ties to Georgetown.
“It adds to the Georgetown pride that Clinton was from here, and people want to see what a product of Georgetown has done,” she said.
Although Mitter only slept three hours and got little homework done, he did not regret spending the night at Leavey. “How often do you get to see a former president of the United States?” he asked.
Anya Assous (SFS ’05) arrived at Leavey at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning in pajama pants, a sweatshirt and slippers. Trying to delay stressing over an upcoming Economics midterm, she played cards with friends and munched on bagels from Vital Vittles. Assous said she decided to spend the night at Leavey more for the experience than to hear Clinton speak.
“It was fun to just camp out. I could live without seeing Bill Clinton. I just came for the college experience,” she said.
The majority of the students camped out in Leavey were freshmen, Assous said.
“I heard someone saying that freshmen knew more about it. I guess it was publicized more in our classes,” she said.
Sophie Tyner (SFS ’03) wants to see Clinton before she graduates, but not enough to spend the night at Leavey. “I’m just not that interested in sleeping on the floor to get tickets,” she said.
At about 1:30 pm, students were given a placeholder and told to have their student IDs ready when they reach the ticket table. A handwritten, yellow poster in front of the table read “Clinton is God. Repeal the 22nd Amendment.”
The line began moving at 3 p.m. and 238 students received tickets. The rest were put on a waiting list and told to return onday, when 237 more tickets were distributed.
