After a week of student ticket giveaways for next Tuesday's lecture by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, officials say that student turnout has been "surprisingly pleasant."
Of the over 10,000 tickets reserved for the general student body, over 9,000 were taken, according to William Regan, director of UB Special Events.
"There was never any let-up in traffic," he said of ticket lines throughout the week. "We were very optimistic that students would be interested in this program, and I was cautiously hopeful that we would see a good turnout. It's great that (students) are coming out for an event like this."
Regan said that university officials deliberately reserved a surplus of tickets in order to provide admission to any interested student, explaining why no single day of ticket distribution sold out.
"We had to beable to provide all students who showed up at each distribution location and time with tickets," he said.
An additional 1400 tickets were designated for students enrolled in UB 101 courses. The law and medical schools had also pre-purchased 300-plus tickets for their students.
The few remaining unclaimed tickets are still being handed out in the Student Association office at 350 Student Union with a valid UB Card; no identification is necessary with the student tickets at the gate on Tuesday.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
