UGA is hosting a solar eclipse ‘blackout’ party in Sanford Stadium Monday. The free event runs from 1 to 4 pm and the first ten thousand guests will receive a free pair of certified eclipse glasses. It’s the brainchild of Geography Professor John Knox.
“We’re going to have an educational event that’s fun and a fun event that’s educational,” but the center of it all, the peak of it will be right after 2:30, peaking at around 2:38, 2:39 when the eclipse will become 99.1% percent total.
He began making plans last December.
“Because I’d been walking past Sanford Stadium for 15 years and I thought you know it’d be great to have an educational event with the same kind of enthusiasm as a football game. So here we are, that’s where we’re headed on Monday afternoon.”
He says several activities are scheduled throughout the gathering.
“There will be loud, booming eclipse music, we will have updates on the eclipse, we will have a camera on the field with a solar field so that you can see projected on the Jumbotron what it’s looking like. We will be having educational moments explaining how eclipse happen, we will have some special guests, we’ll have some giveaways, and we’ll have some autographed sports equipment.”
Knox is surprised and pleased by the reaction of those in Athens and the rest of the nation regarding the eclipse.
