Tickets to hear the Dalai Lama speak at San Diego's big three universities were a hot item when they went on sale Wednesday morning.
The Dalai Lama will hold events at San Diego State on April 19, and at UC San Diego and USD April 18.
The tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. on UCSD's box office website. An hour later, all public seats were sold out.
UCSD's box office web page crashed moments after going on sale due to a flood of web traffic.
"Despite advance preparations to allow for increased traffic to the Box Office website and to accommodate long lines of customers, there was an overwhelming demand for tickets when the event went on sale at 10am this morning," read a statement from UCSD Wednesday.
The event at UCSD and USD will be offered as a live web stream and recorded by later broadcast on UCSD-TV.
For updates on the tickets, visit the Dalai Lama's San Diego website.
The Universities' executives described him as having "compassion for all human beings," a distinguished Nobel Peace Laureate," and a leader who "practices forgiveness and tolerance."
All qualities that they feel will be beneficial for their students and the community.
The Dalai Lama's personal Peace Emissary came to San Diego in January to announce the leader's visit.
"This event will bring people together from different faiths, scientists, scholars, and artists to celebrate our shared values," said Lama Tenzin Dhonden.
The spiritual leader of Tibet is coming to San Diego in a symposium called Compassion Without Borders.
His speeches will be different based on each school he attends.
"We have a tradition of engaging world leaders who can provide an inspiration to our faculty, students, and staff,"says Executive Vice Chancellor at UCSD, Dr. Suresh Subramani.
The Dalai Lama will make his first stop at UCSD with a panel discussion on 'The Global Impact of Climate'.
He will discuss the universal responsibility in responding to the impacts of global climate change on communities.
The Dalai Lama's second talk will be at USD with a topic on 'Cultivating Peace and Justice'.
USD's Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Julie Sullivan says, "I know we will all learn from him and possibly be transformed by the Dalai Lama's remarks on these issues for our human society."
His final stop in San Diego will be at SDSU in a speech titled 'Upholding Universal Ethics and Compassion in Challenging Times'.
SDSU's Provost, Dr. Nancy Marlin, hopes the Dalai Lama's visit will have an impact on her students lives.
"The world in which are students will be living and working will be increasingly connected globally; it is an essential aspect of university education."
For more information, visit the official website.
