Tickets for His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit to Emory became available through a lottery Sunday morning and will run through Sept. 7 at midnight.
The lottery is open to Emory students, staff and faculty only. Students can sign up for the lottery online though Emory's website.
The visit is a part of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, which began in 1998 and aims to bring together Western and Tibetan intellect, according to the partnership's website.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama became a Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory in October 2007 and has since visited Emory's campus every three years, making this year the third time.
Kari Leibowitz ('12C), program coordiantor for the Emory-Tibet Partnership, said all participants in the lottery will have an equal chance at a spot regardless of when they submit their name.
The lottery is expected to distribute out more than 1,000 tickets, 75 percent of which are reserved for Emory students.
On Oct. 9, His Holiness will be speaking twice, once at 9:30 a.m. and once at 2 p.m.
The first talk will take place at Glenn Memorial Auditorium and will cover "Secular Ethics 101," followed by a question-and-answer session.
The second event that day will take place at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts and is titled "Transcending Moral Differences: Can a 'Secular Ethic' Unite Us?" It will be accompanied by a panel of Emory scholars.
The following day, His Holiness will speak on Traditional Buddhist Teaching at 9:30 a.m. in Glenn Memorial Auditorium; however, this talk is only open to the event's sponsors, Drepung Loseling members and invited guests.
Each student will be notified of their status in the lottery on Sept. 11 by 5 p.m., according to Michael Kloss, Emory University's chief of protocol and executive director of the Office of University Events.
Winners will receive one ticket only and must provide their conformation email and a photo identification when picking up their ticket at the Dobbs University Center ticket office starting Sept. 13.
All tickets must be claimed by 6 p.m. on Sept. 25, and the unclaimed will be allocated to the remaining lottery winners who make it onto a waitlist.
James Lama, a Tibetan monk and first-year student at Emory, detailed his excitement for the upcoming events and admiration for His Holiness's goal for "world peace" and strong work ethic.
Leibowitz, on the other hand, was never exposed to Tibetan culture before His Holiness's visit to Emory and hopes that this will inspire students to learn about Tibetan culture as it inspired her in the past.
In addition to coordinating His Holiness's visits, the Emory-Tibet Partnership conducts research, facilitates a summer and semester study abroad and hires distinguished Tibetan professors to teach medicine, religion and culture at Emory.
– By Naomi Maisel
