Al Gore, former vice president and democratic presidential candidate in the 2000 election has been scheduled to speak at Syracuse University in the fall semester, after signing a contract last month.

SU’s Student Association leads in a partnership between it, University Union and University Lectures to sponsor the event, which will take place Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006 at the Landmark Theater in downtown Syracuse.

‘It went really well. I couldn’t have asked for anything better,’ said Ryan Kelly, SA chief of staff and a junior advertising major, of getting Gore to come speak. ‘We’ve been working on this for a long, long time,’ Kelly said.

The idea to bring a big-name political speaker came about in March, Kelly said.

In April when SA was allocating funds to other student organizations, it was forced to decline its own request for funding for the event. However, with the sponsorship with UU and University Lectures, funding the event was no longer a problem. The three groups signed Gore for $75,000, a price considered to be a bargain.

‘Since it’s our 50th we should do something that we’ve never done before,’ said Bobby Patrick VI, SA public relations director, of the ideal of celebrating the organization’s anniversary.

Not only did the SA cabinet members say they think bringing Gore would be a good way to celebrate the organizations anniversary, but Kelly said SA wanted to tie the event into SU Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s ‘Exploring the Soul of Syracuse’ campaign by holding the event at the Landmark Theater.

Kelly said Gore will speak of his most recent issue of concern, global warming, and the documentary released earlier this spring.

Tickets will cost $5 for students and $10 for the public. For more information, go to the Landmark Theater’s Web site at www.landmarktheater.org.

Published on July 13, 2006 at 12:00 pm