Students who were initially excited about seeing some of Yale’s most prominent alumni next weekend but were too lazy to do anything about it will get a second chance.
More than 2,500 seats still remain for the events of the Tercentennial Alumni Convocation, which will bring some of Yale’s most prestigious alumni to campus April 20 and 21. Students who applied by an April 6 deadline were notified by e-mail Wednesday that they could pick up their tickets next week, though a handful of students will not receive all of the tickets they requested. For those who neglected to secure spots the first time around, rush tickets to the weekend’s events will be available Monday and Tuesday.
These last tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to students, faculty and staff at the Rose Alumni House on Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Seats remain for 21 of the 52 sessions, including talks by Tom Wolfe GRD ’57, art history professor Vincent Scully and Shakespeare expert Harold Bloom.
Students were first notified about the programs for the weekend celebration by a campus-wide e-mail sent at the end of march by the Association of Yale Alumni. Planners said the response was good.
Jeff Brenzel, executive director of AYA, said about 750 students applied by April 6 for tickets in response to the e-mail and advertising.
“[That] was great,” Brenzel said. “We were very enthused that students wanted to participate at that level.”
If there were more requests than seats for a specific events, tickets were assigned by lottery, but Brenzel said planners made sure tickets were distributed evenly “so that somebody didn’t come up empty-handed.”
Associate Dean Penelope Laurans, who is coordinating the April weekend, said the students who applied for seats expressed interest in a wide range of events.
“It’s amazing that people spread themselves out,” said Laurans. “They applied across the spectrum.”
Laurans said events she considers some of the highlights of the weekend still have tickets available. She cited the session on the 150-year history of rowing at Yale, which includes a screening of the short documentary “A Hero for Daisy” about women protesting the lack of women’s locker rooms, and Yale Opera Company’s production of “Down in the Valley.”
“They’ll be so happy if they see ‘Down in the Valley,'” Laurans said.
Several students said they were glad to have another opportunity to get tickets to the event.
Lauren Muehl ’01, who did not apply for tickets by April 6, said she will go down to get rush tickets Monday or Tuesday.
“I would be totally be interested in going,” Muehl said.
Adam Taubman ’04, said he planned to do the same.
“I am disappointed Bill Clinton won’t be speaking, but I’ll be waiting in line Monday morning,” Taubman said.
A comprehensive list of events with remaining seats and instructions for obtaining rush tickets are available at www.yale.edu/yale300/tickets.