News Release

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June 13, 2005

Boise State Visitors Top One Million For 2004-2005

From sports fans to conference attendees, more visitors than ever are flocking to Boise State University. For the first time, the metropolitan campus in the heart of Boise’s capital city announced a visitor total of more than 1 million people for the 2004-2005 academic year.

The biggest draws on campus proved to be Bronco Stadium and the Taco Bell Arena, which together filled 550,000 seats for events such as seven straight home football game sell-outs, the NCAA basketball tournament, numerous Boise State and high school Commencement ceremonies, family favorite Disney on Ice and musical headliners such as Mark Chesnutt and Velvet Revolver.

The Student Union also drew large crowds for events that included the bi-annual Distinguished Lecture Series, the Andrus Center’s two-day symposium on water in the West and the weeklong Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Celebration. In all, more than 380,000 people attended events at the Union.

“Programs like our Classic Performance and Global Expressions series and highly recognizable speakers like Gloria Steinem, Martin Luther King III and the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, make the Student Union a destination for many of the visitors to the Boise State campus,” said Leah Barrett, union director.

On the other side of campus, close to 150,000 arts patrons took advantage of both university-produced and professional performances in the Morrison Center, including the annual Broadway in Boise series, the New Shanghai Circus, country stars Merle Haggard and Trace Atkins, dance productions and musical recitals.

In addition to campus visitors, Boise State boasted the largest enrollment ever for an Idaho university, with 18,456 students enrolled for the fall 2004 semester. More than 2,200 faculty and staff were employed to assist students and the additional 30,000 people who attended workshops, seminars and evening and weekend classes through the Division of Extended Studies. To relieve stress and promote fitness, the award-winning Student Recreation Center served 200,000 students, faculty, staff and alumni in its state-of-the-art facility.

And where did all these visitors to Boise State park? In one of the 6,600 parking spaces in lots scattered from the stadium on the east end of campus to the parking structure on the west. Most of these lots are serviced during the fall and winter semesters by convenient campus shuttles.

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Media Contact: Kathleen Craven, University Relations, (208) 426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu

The Office of Communications and Marketing - Boise State University
1910 University Drive - Education Building, #726 - Boise Idaho 83725-1030

208-426-1577
(fax)208-426-4001

email newservices@boisestate.edu

Last reviewed on Thursday, December 22, 2005