October 31, 2014
Recently retired New York Yankee shortstop and captain Derek Jeter will visit Hamilton College for this year’s Great Names event on December 10. Tickets were available for free to the Hamilton community beginning at noon on Monday, Oct. 27 and they sold out early Wednesday afternoon. Associate Dean of Students for Student Engagement and Leadership Lisa Magnarelli ’96 assured students who did not get tickets that the event will be simulcast in the Bradford and Kennedy Auditoriums and will possibly be streamed through MyHamilton.
“Ticket distribution has gone very well. With the help of the Hill Card Office we secured 3 iValidate machines or ‘card-swipers’ which made the process very smooth and efficient,” Magnarelli said. “There was a line stretching to Martin’s Way and within 15 minutes we had cleared everyone. I was amazed at how quickly we were able to accommodate people.”
Ticket distribution occurred on Monday and Tuesday from noon- 9 p.m. at the Sadove Student Center Information Desk. On Wednesday, the approximately 300 remaining tickets were gone 15 minutes after distribution began. The school distributed 3,555 tickets to the campus community, the highest amount distributed in the history of the Great Names series. Last year, for the Hillary Clinton event, the school distributed 2850 to the campus community and reserved 800 for the general public This year, none were reserved for the public. Hamilton did distribute 964 tickets to 30 large groups which are mostly local schools and children’s groups such as Little League teams. Last year, 1,500 tickets were given to large groups for Clinton. Finally, 750 tickets were reserved for VIPs and alumni this year.
Magnarelli urges community members who took two tickets but do not need both to return them to the Student Activities Office so they can be redistributed. Details regarding how tickets will be redistributed will be available within a week but it is likely a lottery system will be used.
“This is the most demand I have ever seen for tickets. I get dozens of emails and phone calls a day. We have been inundated with requests for tickets and never imagined he would be this popular. We’ve had presidents on campus who haven’t generated this much interest!” Magnarelli said. “We’ve been trying to host an athlete for some time and have been unable to do so because of scheduling and other issues. We’re thrilled that Derek Jeter has accepted our invitation to visit, and the timing could not have been better considering his recent retirement.”
After 20 seasons playing for the Yankees, five-time World Series champion Jeter played his last home game on Sept. 25.
“Having the face of Major League Baseball over the last 20 years coming to speak at Hamilton is quite amazing. He is one of the greatest baseball players of all-time, and having the opportunity to ask him questions about his career as the captain of the New York Yankees and listen to his perspective is exciting,” said Alex Gardner ’18. “Sometimes there are players so dynamic that you go to the ballpark just to see them play. Growing up outside of New York City, I went to Yankees games just to watch Derek Jeter thrive in the spotlight that is New York.”
On Dec. 10, the doors to the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House will open at 6 p.m. The question-and-answer session with Jeter will be moderated by Harold Reynolds, a former Major League Baseball All-Star and an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster. Because campus parking will be so limited, free parking and shuttles will be available at the Skenandoa Golf Club, Clinton Central School Elementary and the ACCESS Federal Credit Union.
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