The administration moved former President Bill Clinton's Dec. 3 address from the Shapiro Gymnasium to the larger gym in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center after receiving permission to do so from the Secret Service, the security force that protects all current and former presidents, University President Jehuda Reinharz said last Friday. The new venue can accommodate all students, faculty and staff who register for tickets, University Spokesperson Lorna Miles said.

The Shapiro Gym, Gosman's smaller facility, which was used for former President Jimmy Carter's speech last January, holds roughly 1,700 people. The main area can accommodate approximately 4,000 chairs and 1,800 additional seats in the bleachers, Miles said.

"I made the decision [to move the speech to the larger area] this past week after we had conversations with the Secret Service, and they determined that it would be ok to move it to the larger venue and that the security issues can be taken care of within the larger arena," Reinharz said.

Miles wrote in a campus wide e-mail Wednesday night that over 4,000 undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff had already signed up for the online lottery for Clinton's speech before the location change was announced, which would have left more than half the people who registered for the event without seats, had it remained in the Shapiro Gym.

Reinharz said he contacted the Secret Service to pursue moving the Clinton event once he saw the enormous demand it attracted.

"Once they gave us the go-ahead, there was no reason not to move it to the larger arena," he said.

Online registration for tickets to Clinton's speech closes at midnight today, Miles wrote. The original deadline to register for the lottery was midnight Nov. 4. Those who have registered will be able to pick up tickets starting Monday, Nov. 26, she wrote.

Clinton will speak in honor of the late Eli Segal '64, his former adviser in whose memory a new Citizen Leadership Program in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management was recently established. The speech is the inaugural memorial lecture for the program.

Clinton will speak for about 45 minutes and may or may not take questions from audience members, Miles wrote.

There will be six metal detectors at the door in Gosman for the event, Miles wrote. Backpacks, cell phones, personal cameras and camcorders are prohibited at the event, but attendees may bring in one book with them, she wrote.

"The Secret Service comes in and assesses what type of security is provided," Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan said.

"I think it mirrored the Carter event," Callahan said. "The plan the University had in place for the Carter event worked well, and we just try to replicate the plans we have."

The event will still be limited to Brandeis students, staff, faculty and trustees, however, because of concerns over clogging up the traffic flow in Waltham, Miles explained. Reinharz said the only attendees outside of the Brandeis community will probably be about 50 people who have made major contributions to the Eli Segal memorial fund.

Reinharz said he hopes the event won't interrupt traffic on South Street.

"Whenever there is a big event, we have to be very careful with the traffic flow and bringing any more cars onto campus during the weekdays," Miles said.

Anya Bergman contributed reporting.