Newswise — BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University is releasing information for media covering Thursday’s address by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the IU Auditorium.
Kerry, the first sitting secretary of state to visit IU in 20 years, is speaking as part of a two-day celebration of the new home for the School of Global and International Studies.
The new state-of-the-art, 165,000-square-foot Global and International Studies Building is being dedicated at 3 p.m. Wednesday (Kerry will not be in attendance).
Details for reporters covering the speech
In advance, news organizations will need to contact Ryan Piurek, director of strategic communications, at [email protected] or 812-855-5393 or George Vlahakis, senior news and media specialist, at [email protected] or 812-855-0846 or 812-345-1500.
Media representatives may attend upon presentation of either a media-issued photo identification card or a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification card (driver’s license, passport).
The U.S. State Department requests that reporters arrive early. Electronic media -- including television and radio reporters -- will need to arrive by 9:30 a.m. Thursday and consent to have their equipment screened. Any journalists without electronic devices need to arrive by 10:15 a.m.
All reporters will need to enter the building through its entrance for administrative offices (Door 6), on the south side of the IU Auditorium, 1211 E. Seventh St.
Kerry will begin speaking at 11 a.m. and will not be available during his visit to meet with reporters.
Parking for media -- including television station vehicles -- has been designated in the southern area of the parking lot adjacent to the Global and International Studies Building and the Wells Library, near the intersection of Seventh Street and Jordan Avenue. Parking will not be permitted on Seventh Street near the IU Auditorium.
Broadcast-quality video of Kerry’s address at 11 a.m. Oct. 15 will be delivered live to Indianapolis television stations via the Bloomington-to-Indy fiber link.
After Kerry’s speech, faculty from the IU School of Global and International Studies will be available to comment on his remarks. A media advisory with this information will be distributed Thursday morning. Contact Chuck Carney, the school’s director of communications and marketing, at [email protected] or 812-856-3287 for more information.
Media access to other aspects of Kerry’s visit
After Kerry’s address, at 12:40 p.m., he will attend a luncheon hosted by the School of Global and International Studies, where he will be joined by university leadership, local and state dignitaries, and Kerry's longtime congressional colleagues from Indiana: former Sen. Richard Lugar, who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who chaired the House Committee on Foreign Relations and co-chaired the 9-11 Commission.
The first part of the luncheon will be open to the media. To minimize disruption, television stations wishing to cover this portion of the visit will be required to send a second, separate crew by 11 a.m. to the atrium of the Global and International Studies Building, where camera equipment will be inspected. Final access time for other journalists will be at noon in the same location.
Late on Thursday, IU will provide select photos and video highlights from the luncheon and a meeting Kerry will have with students to news organizations requesting them.
Important information about the speech for the public
Kerry’s lecture will be streamed live at www.state.gov and at www.broadcast.iu.edu, where it will also be available on an archived basis. On Twitter, follow #iuglobal for coverage of Kerry’s visit, as well as @StateDeptLive and @IUBloomington.
Free general admission tickets to Kerry's speech already have been issued to IU Bloomington students, faculty and staff and the public. Ticket holders may begin entering the IU Auditorium at 9:30 a.m. and are encouraged to arrive early to allow for parking, for security and to be seated. All tickets are valid until 10:40 a.m. Thursday. A stand-by line will form on the north side of the Fine Arts Plaza beginning at 9 a.m. Any available seats at 10:40 a.m. will be filled by those waiting in the stand-by line at the IU Auditorium.
Parking for ticket holders without university permits will be at Memorial Stadium at Gate 8, off Dunn Street. Ticket holders may ride the IU Campus Bus X route to the center of campus. Seventh Street will be closed to traffic just east of the Indiana Memorial Union lot entrance.
Those in the audience will not be permitted to bring in bags, backpacks or laptops, or outside food or drinks. Small carried items, such as purses, will be subject to being searched. Notebooks and writing instruments will be allowed.