Correction appended
Planners are still trying to determine whether they will charge for tickets to AU's 2008 Founder's Day Ball, according to Presidential Chief of Staff David Taylor.
If there is a charge, it will be no more than Founder's Day tickets have been in the past. Last year, Founder's Day tickets cost $15. The proceeds will go toward offsetting costs, according to Student Government Vice President Jeff Hanley.
The ball, which is scheduled to run from 7:30 p.m. to midnight Feb. 8, is being held at the Italian Embassy at 3000 Whitehaven St. N.W. Neil Kerwin and board of trustees Chairman Gary Abramson are working with the SG to plan the event, according to a memorandum Kerwin and Abramson sent to the campus community Nov. 19.
The planners of the event are anticipating the total number of tickets for the event to surpass the approximately 1,000 to 1,100-person capacity of the embassy. They are distributing the larger number based on an assumption that university guests, donors and faculty would be more interested in attending the earlier part of the event, while students would likely attend during the later hours. However, no one will be turned away from the event, Taylor said.
"Enough people will be coming and going from the embassy that we don't anticipate it being a problem," he said.
The area around the embassy lacks a significant amount of parking space, so the university will run shuttles between the main campus and the event. People should plan on parking in one of the on-campus lots, Taylor said.
Kerwin's inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. Feb. 8 in Bender Arena. The entire AU community can attend the ceremony and a post-inauguration reception, according to the memorandum.
The reception will be in Mary Graydon Center, Taylor said.
Event planners continue to work out the details of additional events for the days preceding the inauguration ceremony. The events will focus on celebrating aspects of the university, including scholarship and academic creativity, service, alumni and learning, he said.
The SG typically celebrates Founder's Day, which marks the original founding of AU, in February. The U.S. Congress officially established the university through an act of Congress Feb. 24, 1893, as a private institution to be run by the United Methodist Church.
Correction: The correct spelling of the event is Founders' Day. Also, the Italian embassy is not hosting Kerwin's inauguration; instead, it is hosting the inaugural celebration at the Founders' Day Ball. The inauguration will be held in Bender Arena. If AU charges admission to the event, the money will go to AU's Fund for Excellence, not to cover event costs.
The time of the event was also mistaken. The event runs until 12:30 a.m., not midnight. The tone of the article incorrectly suggested there was an unlimited number of tickets. There is only a limited number of tickets.
