Updated on Nov. 7, 2012 at 10:58 a.m.
This post was written by Hatchet reporter McKinley Kant.
Election Day got off to an early start for hundreds of students who staked out the Marvin Center as early as 4 a.m. to snag Inaugural Ball tickets.
All 5,500 tickets were sold by 11:51 p.m. Tuesday – less than 24 hours after going on sale, University spokeswoman Michelle Sherrard said.
By the time sales opened at 6:30 a.m., a line of about 300 students snaked around the building’s first floor and down to the lower level by the bookstore. The first students in line, most of them freshmen, said they sat bundled-up outside for two hours until the building opened.
Dozens of students were in line around 4:30 a.m., with most students sitting and chatting with friends or using laptops. As 6:30 a.m. approached, excitement grew and students played music like “We are the Champions.”
Kathryn Bugg, executive director of University events, said Tuesday that GW would likely sell tickets throughout the day, moving to the third floor during the watch parties.
“We are expecting to sell out by the end of the day again, though there are more tickets this time so we’ll see. There’s a lot of buzz this year,” she said.
This year, the University opened up sales for all of its tickets on Election Day. In 2008, GW only offered 4,000 tickets on the first day of sales, releasing an additional 1,200 two weeks later.
Students, faculty, staff and alumni were all invited to attend the gala on Jan. 21 at the swanky Omni Shoreham Hotel.
F0r junior Alicia Lalvani, the fate of her Inaugural Ball experience rested on the election’s winner.
“I’ll definitely enjoy it more if my candidate wins, but either way I’m looking forward to it,” Lalvani said Tuesday.
But others, including freshman Jessika Eglin, said Tuesday she would enjoy the ball regardless of who took office.
“It really doesn’t matter to most of us who wins the election,” Eglin said. “This is an experience, and who else gets to say they attended an inaugural ball in Washington, D.C.?”
