BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- Former New York governor Mario Cuomo is to speak Sept. 2 to help mark the 30th anniversary of Miami University's Hamilton campus. But just a week after Mr. Cuomo's appearance was announced, free tickets for the 4 p.m. speech in Parrish Auditorium are almost gone, officials say.
About 415 of the 455 available seats are taken, so waiting lists are in the works. Officials also are planning remote viewing sites where Mr. Cuomo's speech will be broadcast via closed-circuit TV, said Jim Neidhard, director of development for MU-Hamilton. Mr. Cuomo, "who is probably one of the most dynamic speakers in the U.S.," Mr. Neidhard said, is expected to include the importance of higher education in his lecture.
The speech kicks off this year's Harry T. Wilks Lecture Series, named for its benefactor, who is a Hamilton businessman and philanthropist. Mr. Cuomo's life dramatically illustrates how education can CP:M. Cuomo
lead to success, Mr. Neidhard said.
A son of Italian immigrants, Mr. Cuomo could barely speak English when he started attending New York public schools. Yet he was graduated summa cum laude -- with highest honors -- from St. John's University in 1953. He also tied for top-of-the-class honors at the university's law school in 1956.
He served three terms as governor of New York from 1982-94, an era The New York Times called "one of the lengthiest and most celebrated governorships in recent history."
Mr. Cuomo guided the nation's third most populous state through two recessions and was considered a perennial contender for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidency.
Last year, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, and William Bennett, a Republican, were named co-chairmen of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The alliance's goal is to seek $350 million from Congress and private sources to bombard young people with prime-time anti-drug messages.
Mr. Cuomo's son, Andrew, was appointed in 1996 to serve as housing secretary for President Clinton.
To make a reservation or ask to be put on a waiting list, call 785-3020.
