Renowned poet packs the place

Lori Stettler watched from her office as the first six people lined up outside the Student Center ballrooms at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Three hours later, more than 350 people had lined up to hear Maya Angelou's lecture that was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m., said Stettler, director of the Student Center.

Ten minutes before the renowned poet was to take the stage, 1,200 people of all ages and races had packed into the ballrooms, and a raffle ticket was the last Hail Mary for those remaining in line. The ticket holders got the next best thing - seats in the Student Center Auditorium, where they watched Angelou over a live video feed.

The only problem for the more than 500 people still standing in line was that there were only 300 tickets available.

Stettler said she knew even before Wednesday that she was going to have to turn people away.

"It's just sad (to turn away people) because she is just an amazing talent," Stettler said of Angelou. "There's going to be a lot of disappointed people, unfortunately."

As the line inched forward, the anxious crowd outside the ballrooms had many questions for the staff members standing along the chain-link divider. The most-frequent question was about location.

Don Castle, assistant director of the Student Center, said Angelou does not do lectures in amphitheater-type settings, such as the SIU Arena, which could seat about 10,000, or Shryock Auditorium, which can hold more than 1,200 people.

Erin Pennington and her daughter Taylor were lucky enough to get two of the tickets.

Pennington said she was looking forward to hearing Angelou because she teaches "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," to her 10th grade class at Carmi-White County High School. She said no African-American literature was taught at the southern Illinois school before she brought in Angelou's acclaimed book.

"I like to see the wide range of people she reaches," Pennington said. "I don't think this many people would show up to see the president."

Ida Austin was not as lucky as the Penningtons. Even though she arrived 45 minutes before the speech, she did not make it into the overflow seating.

She said being so close to hearing Angelou speak has only made her more inspired to see the author.

"I've made up my mind that next time she is within a 300-mile radius (of Carbondale), I'm going to go," Austin said.

andrea_zimmermann@dailyegyptian.com 536-3311 ext. 274