SAN JOSE, Calif. - Hundreds of University of California, Berkeley students waited hours in line and some even camped overnight for tickets to hear former President Bill Clinton's first campus speech on Tuesday.
But some are furious because the queue was chaotic and the majority of the free tickets were set aside for professors, alumni, journalists and wealthy donors.
Problems also ensued when dozens of students - many connected with student government leaders - cut to the front of the line Wednesday morning and were able to obtain tickets.
The tickets were distributed in front of the Cal Performances ticket office at the 2,000-seat Zellerbach Hall starting at 10 a.m.
The 500 tickets allotted to students were gone in just 20 minutes, and as word spread the large crowd grew visibly angry.
Student Vibhav Mittal got in line at 7:30 a.m., and estimates that he was 90th in line. But he didn't get a ticket.
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"Some people were cutting in line because they were friends with the student government people," said Mittal, a junior who studies electrical engineering. "But the university never really announced that it was happening. The fact that Clinton was coming sort of spread by word of mouth."
Disappointed, Mittal fired off e-mails to Chancellor Robert Berdahl and Orville Schell, the dean of the Journalism School, which is sponsoring Clinton's appearance at Zellerbach Hall.
Schell has been flooded with calls from angry students and community members wanting tickets.
"Evidently some heavy handed tactics were used in line, for which we are as displeased as you are," said Schell in an e-mailed response. "It's a pity there are not more tickets. The best that can be offered is the overflow room that the Chancellor's office is preparing."
After his Berkeley appearance, Clinton will cross the bay to Palo Alto for a visit to Stree: Global Investments in Women, a non-profit group.
About 200 people, mostly from the Bay Area, have been invited to attend the Tuesday evening event at the Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto. Also on hand will be Queen Noor, the American-born widow of King Hussein I of Jordan.
"He will be just speaking at the dinner event and lending support to the issues surrounding women globally," said Stree's chief operating officer, Rita Ghatak. Stree is a Sanskrit word signifying strength, dignity and empowerment.
Clinton's visit is a first for the University of California, Berkeley, and many students said that they were anxious to hear him speak on the scheduled topic of globalization. Clinton has waived his usual speaking fees and agreed to appear at the university for free.
"When a man of the stature of President Clinton comes, it's of great interest to students," said Kevin De Liban, a senior in the political science department. "Our campus doesn't attract a lot of huge name speakers and when they do it's not really publicized in advance."
De Liban arrived at Zellerbach Hall at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. He said that he saw dozens of students affiliated with ASUC, the Associated Students of the University of California, jump into line ahead of others who had been waiting.
"When I looked at all the people getting tickets, I saw a lot of ASUC people who hadn't been in line before," said De Liban. "I'm upset that Zellerbach didn't organize a fair way to distribute the tickets. They could have handed out numbers or something."
The Graduate School of Journalism distributed half, or 1,000 tickets, to journalism students as well as alumni, donors, and editors of Bay Area newspapers. The other 1,000 tickets were distributed by Berdahl's office, which allocated a number of them to faculty, staff members, and department chairs.
ASUC President Wally Adeyemo admitted to the Daily Cal, the student newspaper, that he had held a place in line for some friends and apologized.
"We are trying to find ways to create overflow seating and get a live video feed into another room," said Adeyemo in an interview Thursday. "We've never had a problem quite like this. But we've never had a speaker quite like this either."
Knight Ridder Tribune
