UPDATED: April 17, 1:56 a.m.

Tickets to see Anderson Cooper on April 24 in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium sold out Wednesday, shortly after they went on sale.

Abdou Diakite, president of Syracuse University’s Alpha Phi Alpha chapter, said tickets to see the CNN anchor went on sale at 11 a.m., and the event sold out by about 12:30 p.m. There were enough tickets on sale to fill the capacity of the auditorium, he said.

Alpha Phi Alpha and the National Association of Black Journalists at SU are hosting the event, and Diakite said he was pleased with the way the organizations were able to drum up interest for the event.

“I was proud of the chapter and of the NABJ that we could promote the event effectively,” he said. “Anderson Cooper is a high-profile speaker and a lot of people want to see him.”

For students who were unable to purchase a ticket in time but still want to hear what Cooper has to say, Diakite said the event will be streamed on TVs in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and in the dining area of the Schine Student Center.

Diakite said promotions for the event began Monday, and the reaction was “phenomenal.” He said students across campus were ecstatic to hear Cooper was coming to campus, adding that even some alumni reached out and said they wished they had been able to see Cooper during their time on campus.

The format of the event will be question-and-answer. Students will be able to pose questions from their seat in the audience, as well as via Twitter. Although it was difficult to finalize the arrangement to bring Cooper to SU, Diakite said he’s happy that the event came together.

“It was challenging in terms of booking him because he’s an extremely high-profile speaker and a high-profile person,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the conversation that will be had during the event.”

Published on April 16, 2014 at 4:25 pm

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27