Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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I REAGAN What could possibly cost $34,082.56, put the campus into a political fren- zy, cause Secret Servicemen to fly into Manhattan to check the security poten- tial of Ahearn Field House, motivate students, faculty, and staff to wait in long lines just for a single one-hour presentation? The answer: The 58th Landon Lecture. Guest speaker: Ronald Reagan. The planning began Aug. 29 when Presi- dent Reagan was invited as the guest lecturer in honor of Alf Landon ' s 95th birthday. The first answer from the White House was that the visit was tentatively scheduled and even with this response, the University began preparing for the hopeful visit. After confirmation, a Washington advance team visited Manhattan one week before the scheduled lecture to outline specific duties for Chief Art Stone, director of Security and Traffic. It ' s a good-sized operation. We were warned that things would be pretty tight, Stone said. Students walking past Ahearn the week prior to the visit stopped to view the pro- cedures necessary to protect a president. One of the major concerns was determin- ing the priority of who would be able to at- tend the lecture. Tickets were passed out on a first-come, first-served basis two days stops in for grand old birthday; parti; before the visit. Lines began forming at noon on the Weber Arena lawn for the 5 p.m. distribution. Only one ticket was issued for each person with a University identfication card. By 9:30 p.m. all 7,500 tickets were distributed to students, faculty and staff. Among the ticket lines, overnight business entrepreneurs sold Reagan paraphernalia in- cluding, Ronnie ' s American Tour ' 82 and Can you say Deficit? T-shirts. Buttons were also available. A rare decision by the administration cancelled classes from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. so that students and faculty could at- tend the lecture. The day of the visit brought crowds gathering at 6 a.m. for the 11 a.m. lecture and cloudy, rainy skies. By 10:15 the lines had formed from the east entrance of Ahearn to Farrell Library. Approximately 9,300 students, faculty and staff, 500 Landon Lec- ture patrons and 350 members of the news media walked through metal detectors into the tension-filled Ahearn. The stage was set. Chairs were arranged behind the podium complete with the presidential seal. A large royal blue curtain supplied the backdrop and a sign proclaim- ing LANDON LECTURE announced the reason for the gathering. Ahearn hummed with excitement and an- Reagan ll

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As guest speaker for the 58th Landon Lecture, President Ronald Reagan speaks to a packed Ahearn Field House on issues fac- ing the country, including farm prices and the role of the Kansas farmer in today ' s economy. The lecture was in honor of former Gov. Alf Landon ' s 9Sth birthday. Crowds began forming at 6 a.m. the day of the lecture. The lines had wound to Farrell Library by the 10:15 opening of the doors. Approximately 9,000 persons fil- ed past security personnel on the way into Ahearn. 10 Reagan

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Student entrepreneurs swarmed the lines selling items depicting the visit to those interested in a souvenir of the lecture. Mike Benz, senior in architecture, presents a T-shirt to a customer. 12 Reagan