It’s not everyday that a former vice president and former presidential candidate comes to speak at Syracuse University.

Al Gore, Bill Clinton’s former running mate and Democratic presidential candidate in the 2000 election, has been scheduled to speak in front of SU, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students and the Syracuse community on Sept. 14 at the Landmark Theater downtown.

Gore will be speaking about global warming and the harm it is doing to the environment.

‘The environment is something that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves,’ said Wayne Horton, president of the Student Association. ‘I think it’s great that he’s coming.’

SA leads a partnership between it, University Union and University Lectures to sponsor the event.

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

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

When the SA was allocating funds to other student organizations in April, it was forced to decline its own request for funding for the event. However, with co-sponsors UU and University Lectures, funding the event was no longer a problem.

‘Since it’s our 50th we should do something that we’ve never done before,’ said Bobby Patrick VI, SA public relations director, 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 anniversary, but Kelly said SA wanted to tie the event into Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s ‘Exploring the Soul of Syracuse’ campaign by holding the event at the Landmark Theater.

Gore will speak of his on-going issue of concern, global warming, which he’s been studying since the 1970s, Kelly said.

In the spring Gore released both a book and a documentary, titled ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’ ‘He’s done this speech over a thousand times,’ Kelly said.

‘I really, really hope that people can look past political lines and look at this as an issue we need to address.’

The documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ will be shown sometime before Gore’s arrival on campus, although the date is unknown still, Kelly said.

‘As far as what Al Gore is talking about, it’s very a-political,’ said Clarence Cross III, president of UU. ‘It’s about the issue that’s affecting this world … I think by going to the lecture you can make up your mind.’

On the day of his lecture, Gore will come into Syracuse to a dinner hosted by the coordinators of the event, Patrick said.

The dinner will consist mostly of administrators, professors and student leaders, Patrick said. After the lecture, 50 SU and SUNY-ESF students, who have already been selected, will meet Gore, Cross said.

‘It’s going to be low-key, nothing extravagant,’ said Horton. SA and UU wanted to hold the reception as an opportunity for the students who planned the event, as well as students who are concerned with the environment to meet Gore and speak to him further about global warming, Patrick said.

Although most of the spots are taken, SA and UU wanted ‘regular’ students to have the opportunity to meet the former vice president, Patrick said.

‘You can’t have 3,000 people meet Al Gore,’ said Kelly. ‘It’s just not possible.’

The event is special because Gore will not be touring across the country, Patrick said.

It is also unique because it’s a collaboration between the two largest student groups on the SU campus. The partnership between SA and UU hasn’t always been a smooth one; however, this event has brought the two student groups together.

‘We just worked really well together,’ said Cross. ‘There is a history that always hasn’t been positive but I think this really puts UU and SA in a good light.’

The collaboration is equal because UU has been handling the ticket sales and communicating with the Landmark Theater, while SA has been managing both public relations and media aspects, Cross said.

‘We have been working so well together – Clarence just got right in there,’ said Kelly. ‘It’s just a smooth and cohesive partnership.’

Horton agrees the relationship between UU and SA has dramatically improved during a short period of time.

‘We’re just on the same page with almost everything,’ said Horton.

Pre-sale tickets were accessible to SU and SUNY-ESF students on Aug. 23 at a cost of $5. Pre-sale ticketing for the even has been working as it did for the Kanye West concert, where students are able to purchase them online, said Cross.

Tickets are available at either www.landmarktheater.org or www.universityunion.org. Tickets will later be released to the public for $12. There will also be free transportation from the Schine Student Center to the Landmark Theater, where the event will be held, to make it easier for students to attend the event, Kelly said.

‘A lot of universities have been calling us. I hope this puts Syracuse on the map as far as bringing political speakers,’ said Kelly.

Fifty tickets were sold within the first five minutes and 580 tickets had been sold as of Friday afternoon, Cross said.

‘I anticipated that it would be better, but I think the student tickets will sell out,’ said Cross. ‘I expect to sell out sometime next week.’

The Landmark Theater has a capacity of 2,816 seats, far larger than SU’s Goldstein Auditorium, which has just 1,500 seats, Cross said.

‘This is a huge step for the students and the university to use a historic venue,’ Cross said.

Published on August 27, 2006 at 12:00 pm