Written by Samantha Holschbach
As soon as tickets for George W. Bush’s presentation were made available on April 5, Harding’s student body was ready and waiting to accept 2000 of them, forming a massive line snaking from the Benson.
“I waited for four and a half hours,” junior Molly McCoy said, who received one of the very first tickets. “It was totally worth it. To have George W. come to Harding is a big deal, and I was going to have the best seat I could.”
According to Bob Reely, associate executive director of the American Studies Institute, 3535 tickets have been roughly allocated as follows: 2000 to students, 750 to faculty and 750 to donors who are largely responsible for funding Bush’s April 22 Harding appearance. The number of tickets available for students is the most ever allowed for a big-name speaker. Seats are also available in the Administration Auditorium, where Bush’s speech will be simulcast.
Bush will begin his presentation with the topic, “A Tour of the Oval Office” and end with a question-and-answer session.
Reely said that Bush’s popularity as an American Studies Institute speaker is due to his relevance to students.
“Of the big speakers we’ve had in the past, he was a sitting president while these students were growing up,” Reely said. “The Margaret Thatchers, the Gorbachevs — they’re a little distant in some cases for the generation of students.”
Adding a second layer of appeal, Arkansas’ conservative voting record supporting Bush in both 2000 and 2004 partly explains the popularity of the tickets, according to Reely.
“Likely the current administration is coming under fire from a lot of different directions,” Reely said. “Bush’s policies may look more attractive than they did at election time.”
Regardless of one’s opinion regarding Bush’s administration, freshman Erin Grant said she believes students should listen to what he has to say as a means of staying informed on domestic and international issues.
“It’s a real privilege and almost an honor to be able to hear somebody who led our nation come and speak to us about the very issues he dealt with,” Grant said, who waited in line 1 hour and 15 minutes to receive one of the last five or six tickets. “It’s also an opportunity to become more informed and to kind of fulfill our duties as citizens.”
To pass the time while waiting in line, students did homework, mingled with friends or even pettedpuppies, as was the case for Grant. Others simply enjoyed watching people.
“My favorite thing to observe was watching people walk up to get in line and see their mouths drop,” McCoy said. “I wanted to take a picture of the crazy long line and e-mail it to Bush and say, ‘We’re excited and ready to see you.'”
Despite the enduringly long line, all students who waited eventually received tickets.
“Everybody who came that day to get a ticket, got a ticket,” American Studies Institute administrative assistant Laura Beth Brown said. “We didn’t turn anyone away.”
Even if ticket availability had been severely restricted, some students would have committed to greater measures beyond waiting in line several hours.
“I thought if I needed to get there the night before and camp out to get a good seat, I would have done it in a heartbeat,” McCoy said. “I really do just love George W.”
