Unbelievable

I used to teach in the U of Ark. system and got to know Prof. Morris during that time. She is a fine woman and should not be the one taking the heat for this stupid decision or for not commenting on it. I wouldn’t comment either. The banning of this production is beneath contempt. I hope that the parents of prospective students are made aware of this blatant censorship and think long and hard about whether or not they want to send their children to a school that would be so narrow minded about the value of looking at the issue of gun violence in this country. This is EXACTLY the time that we SHOULD be looking at these issues and not burying our heads in the sand.

Theatre Professor in Ohio, at 8:00 am EST on February 22, 2008

There’s no business like show business...

There’s no business like show business Like no business I know You get word before the show has started That your favorite uncle died at dawn Top of that, your ma and pa have partedYou’re broken-hearted, but you go on

There’s no people like show people They don’t run out of dough Angels come from everywhere with lots of jack And when you lose it there’s no attack Where could you get money that you don’t give backLet’s go on with the show

.... and no coward like a college president

Randy, at 8:55 am EST on February 22, 2008

Et tu Techies

After Yale’s ban of “weapons” on stage, I wrote ...

He was stabbed on the steps of the Forum

Even though there wasn’t a quorum;

But to stage it at Yale

Will land you in jail.

“Et tu Eli!” ... you’ll bore-em.

So, Arkansas Tech, join the club of the wimpy sillies!

Frizbane Manley, at 8:55 am EST on February 22, 2008

Et tu atu

After copying and pasting the limerick I wrote about Yale, I just sat here seething that there are “men” like Robert C. Brown leading American universities. I admit I was turned off by his statement, “All of us have a healthy respect for the freedom of artistic expression that college theater represents, and all of us agree that out of respect for the families of those victims of the tragedies at Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech, and from an abundance of caution, it is best at this time not to undertake a campus production that contains the portrayal of graphically violent scenes,” especially since I happen not to believe that at all. But then I discovered the “all” to which he was referring was the three or four people on the drama faculty at ATU.

Since I know people are never as bad as the press paints them as being, I checked out the good Dr. Brown and discovered that a few years ago ...

“ ... President Robert C. Brown recently signed a contract extension. The current contract will keep Dr. Brown at Tech until 2012.”

“Dr. Brown became president in 1993. Under Brown, Tech’s enrollment has increased from approximately 4,500 to more than 7,000 [now 7,500]. Last fall, for the 8th consecutive year, Tech admitted record enrollment [76% increase since 1997]. Even while admitting more students, ATU’s admission standards have increased [SAT Verbal: 25th Percentile = 420; 75th Percentile = 530 and SAT Math: 25th Percentile = 440; 75th Percentile = 530].”

“Tech now has more than 30 study programs, and numerous buildings have been constructed in Dr. Brown’s 14-year tenure. There has also been a national recruiting campaign for faculty. ‘A diversity of minds is one of the most important aspects of students receiving a well-rounded education,’ Dr. Brown believes. ‘Some institutions are focused on research, some on athletics, some on growing as fast as possible,’ Dr. Brown said. ‘We’re focused on increasing students’ opportunities to learn.’”

“Dr. Brown pointed out that Arkansas Tech is one of only two campuses in the state of Arkansas that provides all of the five most important degree areas: education, engineering, business, science and liberal arts. Tech is the only campus in the state with all of those areas that focuses on undergraduate students.”

http://lfa.atu.edu/art/facilities2.html

“Dr. Brown describes himself as an enabler. He says he was determined upon his arrival in 1993. He added that he is a visionary but also action-oriented. ... Dr. Brown believes that as president he does not cause change, but instead assists others and provides the environment for change. He complemented the faculty and staff at Tech, saying it has been their dedication to the mission that has elevated Tech to the level it is today.”

Upon learning this, I decided that any prudent faculty member at Arkansas Tech should just look the other way on this issue ... maybe even mutter under their breath, “Well, even the greatest make a few minor mistakes here and there ... so let’s cut Bob a little slack on this” and then go on about their business.

http://www.atu.edu/ataglance.shtml

I also believe, in the spirit of keeping culture where it belongs, the works of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman should never be presented west of the Mississippi and east of the Rockies ... and certainly not in the heart of the Ozarks.

P.S.: “U.S. News and World Reports” lists ATU as “One of America’s Best Colleges” (2008).

P.P.S. I do hope the “Assassins” cast at ATU will, at the dress rehearsal, substitute bananas for pistols, each prominently labeled with a Sharpie, “Compliments of Robert C. Brown.”

Frizbane Manley, at 11:35 am EST on February 22, 2008

ROTC Student w/practice rifle at Cal State Dominguez Hills

I’m not sure about whether or not the above mentioned “wooden” rifles and guns looked real. Yesterday there was an incident at Cal State Dominguez Hills where a ROTC cadet came from training and forget to put his dummy rifle into a duffle bag. While walking across campus a parent of one of the students noticed him carrying it and notified authorities. The campus went into immediate lockdown (though the system put into place didn’t work very well — notifications didn’t go out as planned). With what is happening, many campuses as well as people are focusing more on the potential of a school shooting rather than the reality of one. How much does the media play into creating this environment? Does what happened at Arkansas Tech is a direct response to the over-reporting in the media?

Bob Choat, at 12:10 pm EST on February 22, 2008

Regarding Frizabne Manley’s comment about “works of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman should never be presented west of the Mississippi and east of the Rockies ... and certainly not in the heart of the Ozarks.”

Geography has nothing to do with artisitic expression. We should support artists and thespians no matter their location. Just because the play was taking place in a rural location does not mean we should abandon them to the cultural black hole that constantly wants to suck them in. There should be more plays that challenge the minds in this area. There should be outside intervention so these professors do not live in fear for their jobs. We need to support them. Do not belittle them because of where they live.

Scott Summers, at 12:35 pm EST on February 22, 2008

Unbelievable

I cannot believe the close mindedness and the absurdity of this university. What this tells me is that not only do they not respect their students or staff of the theatre department but also the theatre it’s self. Just because these students are putting up an amazing, thought provoking theatre experience does not mean that someone is going to shoot up the school. Why don’t you just start banning televisions on campus as well? I am sickened and sad that this kind of censorship still goes on. Grow up people!

Dustin Lewis, Creative team/ Sales and marketing at The Legacy Theatre, at 3:25 pm EST on February 22, 2008

Fear

To D.

If you won’t sign your name, its because of fear, not “grit your teeth and bare it". The students know there is fear among faculty on campus. They are not stupid. It is time for all others around the country to call or e-mail the presidents office and demand that this play be put on. The students have worked too hard for this to be cancelled.

Dr. Robert Brown’s e-mail is rcbrown@atu.edu. His office number is 479-968-0237.

Everyone around the country needs to rally for these students. I encourage everyone to write or call to have Dr. Brown’s decision changed.

Scott Summers, at 5:15 pm EST on February 22, 2008

Shame on Tech!

I teach theatre at a high school in the Arkansas River Valley area. As a ATU alumni, I have encouraged many of my students to attend the “Prevailing School of Thought". It saddens me to think of the students that will pick another university based on the decisions of one poorly guided man. Dr. Brown looked up “Assassins” on Wikipedia rather than discussing the play’s merit with his staff. As one friend wrote: “I am now disappointed and ashamed to say that I was once a student there because of the censorship and suppression of ideas. By canceling this show, they are portraying that they are no longer the “Prevailing School of Thought” that they claim to be, but just “Redneck Tech” with a new coat of paint.”

Again, here are the addresses to use when contacting the ATU administration about the cancellation of the Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman play “Assassins". Please get involved.

snail-mail:

Dr. Robert Brown c/o Susie Nicholson 1509 North Boulder Ave. Russellville AR 72801Administration Building

e-mail:

rcbrown@atu.edu Dr. Robert Brown, ATU President

georgena.duncan@atu.edu Dr. Georgina Duncan, ATU Dean of Liberal Arts

telephone:

(479) 968-0237 for the president’s office

OR

The Courier (letters to the editor)

www.couriernews.com/letters.php

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (letters to the editor)

www2.arkansasonline.com/contact/voicesform

LH, at 9:55 pm EST on February 22, 2008

I am a sophomore at ATU, and yes, I completely disagree with the administration’s decision. I urge people to get involved and spread the word about this. Brown has claimed he was worried about the sound of gun shots being heard outside and around the theater.

When they performed on Wednesday, they had to use their hands and say, “Bang! Bang!” in place of the prop guns. They couldn’t even use wooden guns! It truly is a slap in the face to all the hard work and effort put into the production. My heart goes out to all those involved, especially my best friend. The only time I’ve seen people that upset over something was when someone died… and in a way, something did die… their hard work, time, effort, and their chances to perform for an audience.

As for fear— yes. I agree that there is a degree of fear on this campus. It seems everyone lives under the question of “What would Dr. Brown think of this?” I’m guilty of it. I know many of my professors are guilty of it. “If we do this (or don’t do this), Dr. Brown will do something...” You get my point.

I hope this story blows up, goes national and draws more people than ever to the possible rescheduling of the play. I hope it sells out every night from all the spark and buzz. And yes, perhaps all the media attention is a bit much, but in a way... it’s getting it out there that you can’t just do this to people!

Student at ATU, at 6:15 am EST on February 23, 2008

Anti-intellectualism

The decision to ban Assassins is laughable anti-intellectualism, and for such anti-intelletualism to come from a President of an educational institute is pathetic. One of the many things that Assassins does, is seek to explore the decision making processes that lead to subversive behaviour. If we seek to understand those motivations we can then seek to address the societal and personal deficiencies that produce them. To ban Assassins is to stick one’s head in the sand with regard to dealing with those problems and is an abdication of responsibility. Banning Assassins is more likely to encourage subversive behaviour than to prevent it. I would guess that Robert C Brown does not have the intellectual capacity to understand this musical.

I write this as a British citizen based in the UK who recognises that the message of Assassins is relevant throughout Western society and is possibly universal, although many non-Western societies do not enjoy the freedom to express the bold ideas within Assassins. Taking such a silly decision is an insult to those who have fought for freedom of expression.

PS: Scott Summers — I think Frizbane Manley may have been being sarcastic?

Scripps, Mr at n/a, at 6:15 am EST on February 23, 2008

The Constitution Called. It’s wants its 1st Amendment back

Try listening to something the U.S. Supreme Court told us over four decades ago in Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969).

Tinker was a Vietnam protest case where several students planned to wear black armbands to school to protect our country’s involvement in Vietnam and to mourn the dead on all sides of the conflict. School officials quickly adopted a “no armband” rule to prevent the protest. This did not prevent the students from wearing those armbands, and the school officials suspended the students for violation of the newly-created school policy. The students sued under a claim of infringement of their First Amendment rights. The U.S. Supreme Court, by a vote of 7-2, ruled in favor of the students.

While the facts in Tinker certainly can be distinguished from the point of discussion here, there are certain statements made in this opinion that are quite insightful, and I would find it difficult to believe that any school administration could so easily discard these statements as blatantly as the Arkansas Tech school officials did almost 40 years after this court decision. If the Supreme Court felt this strongly on behalf of high school students in 1969 about a war protest case, I wonder what they would think about a case where there is no message of protest nor is there a message of any substantial criticism involving government (not to mention the students are now all of legal age with suffrage rights). This musical is more social commentary about the sources of violence than it is about government criticism.

In Tinker, the U.S. Supreme Court stated, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. This has been the unmistakable holding of this Court for almost 50 years.” (Tinker, 393 U.S. at 506). Remember, this statement was made by the Court in 1969, so it was relying upon prior case law from around 1919. That was only about 10 years after the original establishment of my alma mater. So, this case law has been in place for 90% of the entire history of Arkansas Tech and has applied to all students and teachers who ever attended the school during this period of time. It was not suddenly and unexpectedly overturned last week. It continues to apply today and certainly applied at the time the decision to censor this play was made. And yet, in a matter of moments, something that has been so carefully woven into the fabric of our society and paid for with countless lives and sacrifices has been discarded with reckless abandon.

If you really want to spark a change in this administration, you should contact the Alumni Foundation and cancel any donations until this situation has been remedied.

Kris Isham, at 1:55 pm EST on February 23, 2008

(This was posted elsewhere on the web, but I think it applies here as well)

You have to look up to a university president that looks at a play that is performed on a stage with wooden guns by a group of actors, and then looks at his students and says “You know, I don’t think they can tell the difference between this and real life.” I’m sorry,but could you be just a *little* bit more insulting to my intelligence please? But I guess it’s a good thing that they destroyed those wooden guns, just in case somebody found some wooden bullets.

But I guess the ban will help, you know, because we don’t want anybody doing anything stupid like carrying a loaded weapon to an athlete-organized party. Oh wait...

T, at 8:10 am EST on February 24, 2008

To Scott Summers:

“Regarding Frizabne Manley’s comment about “works of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman should never be presented west of the Mississippi and east of the Rockies ... and certainly not in the heart of the Ozarks.”

Geography has nothing to do with artisitic expression”

You are absolutely right, Scott. How utterly intelligent of you to point this out. Oh that Frizbane! What world does he live in?

Tired Adjunct, at 2:20 pm EST on February 24, 2008

The comments in this section need to stay focused on the students, the cancellation of this musical, and the limitations of the free speech at Arkansas Tech.

I am a resident of Russellville, AR and a graduate of ATU. By calling the area a “cultural black hole", I am referring to the lack of arts programs of any type within the community. Whenever a major production, such as ASSASSINS is produced, it takes a lot of hard work to make any one attend. It is even harder to make other members of the community care about this cancellation as much as you and I do.

I am sure that Larissa, the faculty members, and many others who know the Russellville area will agree with me on this. Do not turn this into a personal attack. If the original post was sarcasm, then I did not read it that way as my emotions were raw at the time. However, let us not turn these essential comments into personal attacks.

This story has now spread across the country and appeard in several newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. Each one of us has a duty to help these students and faculty members. If reason and logic will not work with Dr. Brown, then it is time to turn up the volume.

Many alumni are now pulling their money away from the alumni association and the college. If former students want to donate any money, than please request that it go straight to the theater department on campus.

As the first comment suggests, the AAUP needs to be informed of Dr. Brown’s actions and his limitations of free speech on campus. If the commentators sources are valid, then Arkansas Tech and Dr. Brown could be faced with a major federal lawsuit.

It is time to stop all complacency about this issue. Complacency is accepatance, and I and several others will no longer accept these actions from the ATU administration.

The time for a change is necessary, and the volume level must be raised. Now that Dr. Brown has several days of phone calls and e-mails sent to his office, we must now contact the Board of Trustees and state officials.

Board of Trustees (addresses and numbers unknown as they are not publicly listed besides Google search and that is unverified.)

John Chambers III — Danville, AR W.R. “Bud” Harper — Ft. Smith, AR Fritz P Kronberger — Russellville, AR Leah Burns Whiteside — Russellville, ARDean Wilburn — Harrison, AR

State Senator:

Sharon Trusty — District 4 P.O. Box 9026 Russellville, AR 72811 (479) 880-9576No e-mail address listed

State Representative:

Michael Lamoureux 105 Skyridge Rd. Russellville, AR 72802 479-968-7300lamoureuxm@arkleg.state.ar.us

All addresses and numbers obtained from the Arkansas governemnt website at http://www.arkansas.gov.

Contact each of them and tell them of this situation at ATU. Let them know that you will not stand for actions that are detrimental to student’s future careers, and actions that inhibit free speech on campus.

This musical must be performed. Dr. Brown must stop intimidating faculty members and other staff. Our complacency must end.

Scott Summers, at 6:05 pm EST on February 24, 2008

Educational Damage

Mr. Zumwalt’s comment about the impact of the cancellation on his work as a set designer and its impact on his fledgling career was particularly sad. Those cancelling the play are ignorant of the value of theatrical production for education of the students involved. This play was not an activity done for frivolous amusement. Rather it was serious part of the eduational enterprise of the theater department. Cancelling it is akin to throwing out a student’s thesis or senior project or major paper or flushing a semester’s worth of research down the toilet. It is a major effront to the education of the theater students. How will the university compensate students for what they lost?

Les, at 8:55 am EST on February 25, 2008

From what i have head the only concern that brought about the postponement of this play was the fact that gun shot sound effects from the play would be heard outside of the theater and might frighten students. Do I think that the play should have been postponed, no, maybe there should have been a news release telling students to expect gunfire sounds from the theater. I know the theater people are hurt about the postponement but i think instead of raising all kinds of stink they should address the issues regarding the postponement. Maybe let administration know that they are concerned with the other students on campus and lower the gunshot sound effects. Surely the lowering of volume or some other compromise wouldn’t hurt the integrity of the play. Just my 2 cents.

Theater Fan, at 11:10 am EST on February 25, 2008

I would like to state, for the record that at three rehearsals for the show, the prop weapons were used without complaint. The prop gunshots did not incite riot nor did anyone, security or student, become alarmed or notify the theatre department or the public safety department (to my knowledge.) Also, NOT using prop guns is in direct violation of artistic intent and to the rights of the show. NOT using the guns is simply, breaking the law. Sadly, the censorship of the show has not ended with the closing of the doors. Now, faculty and students fear losing their place at the university. Something NEEDS to be done to protect those most directly involved.

Michelle, at 9:45 pm EST on February 25, 2008

The Petition Has Started

This is the start of an online petition that I would like every student and faculty member to distribute on campus. When you have filled up your sheet with a list of names, make copies for a permanent record, and then scan them and send to my e-mail address. They will then be presented to Dr. Brown and members of the media. Keep all originals.

The website is: http://complacencyisacceptance.blogspot.com/

Please vist my website to offer any comments and suggestions.

No more complacency. This ends now.

No Complacency, at 4:50 am EST on February 26, 2008

sheer idiocy

I sent this as a letter from a professor at a sister institution to the student paper at ATU, but as it seems unlikely they will publish, I may as well post it here:

Dear Editor,

Here at Henderson State University, we are in the second weekend of a popular theatre production of “Death Trap,” in which blanks are fired during the performance, and actors are murdered onstage by a variety of clever methods. As a student reviewer wrote in last week’s edition of The Oracle, our campus newspaper, “The set was absolutely beautiful. The massive amounts of lethal weapons are an excellent touch, adding little hints of fear to the audience.” The idea that the president of another university in this state would ban a similar performance because of the presence of blank guns strikes me as an absurd affront to the arts, higher education and all that public universities stand for. The arts have always offered society healing from tragedy, as well as an intellectual touchstone for analyzing errors and avoiding future tragedy. To ban an artistic performance because of a recent tragedy is not only misguided, but ignorant, especially if the ban is issued by someone charged with defending higher education from the forces of ignorance.

It has already been widely published that the film “American Gangster” has been shown on your campus during the same period the play was scheduled for performance, undoubtedly with Dolby sound making the gunfire just as loud for passers-by as the blank shots in “Assassins” would have been. My question for President Brown, were I a student or faculty member at your institution, would be whether he is also planning to remove not only the violent movies from the student union, but the incredibly violent works of Homer and Shakespeare from the library, the violent works of Michelangelo from the art building, and the violent history of western civilization from the classroom. You might expect this sort of simple-minded overreaction to a theatrical work from a junior high school principal, but never from a university president. I hope cooler, better informed minds at your institution will ultimately prevail.

Sincerely,

Michael Ray Taylor

Professor of Mass Media Henderson State UniversityArkadelphia, AR 71923

p.s. I understant the AAUP has taken up the charge near the top of this thread, and I wish them success. Perhaps the ACLU would also like to address the free speech issue here. Where is your faculty senate, ATU? Were such a cowardly act to occur on our campus (not that I think it ever would) the faculty senate would be quick and unanimous in condemning a president so ignorantly set against the arts.

Michael Ray Taylor, Professor at Henderson State University, at 8:00 am EST on February 26, 2008

Personally, I think someone should ask Dr. Brown how many theatre productions he or his staff have actually seen, researched or bothered to take the time to worry about in his “illustrious?” tenure at ATU.

cara, at 8:40 pm EST on February 26, 2008

“Movies are usually intended to maximize first weekend gross receipts, and little else.”

Let’s be fair here — a lot of movies are indeed made solely to make lots of money. But I really don’t think films like “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days” were made to “maximize first weekend gross receipts.” Film is an art form too, and it is just as capable of provoking thought and “changing lives” as theater. (And let’s remember, there’s a lot of fluff theater too — think “Wicked” and “Legally Blonde the Musical” and “The Phantom of the Opera".)

But I digress.

“Assassins” is a difficult work. But it’s also a very rewarding one. It has much of intelligence to say, and it is incredibly conducive to conversation and thought. The decision to cancel it just reeks of anti-intellectualism and censorship. And the excuse that “the bullets may be heard outside the theater” seems entirely silly.

Here’s hoping they find a way to remedy this idiotic situation as soon as possible (the best thing would be to allow them to put on the show as scheduled, if it’s not too late,) for the sake of all the students and faculty who have been negatively affected by the decision.

Thomas McNeils, at 4:25 am EST on February 27, 2008

Response to “Faculty Senate Comment”

I have heard from several ATU faculty that they are “worried about their jobs” in openly opposing the president’s unfounded actions regarding this play. This worry illustrates exactly why your campus needs a strong, active and engaged faculty senate; “shared governance” is not just an academic buzzword, it is the model of how successful universities operate. An autocratic president running things as if he were the CEO of private company is, in the long run, nothing but bad news for a state university, no matter how well-intentioned that president might be. Recruiting and retaining the most qualified faculty is nearly imppossible in such a stifled environment; bad financial and academic decisions persist and are amplified due to lack of proper oversight; students are made apathetic by their apathetic professors and the apapthetic staff, and fail to become the engaged citizens an undergraduate education is supposed to produce. My personal advice to you is, speak openly, and if you go down in flames, know that you did so fighting the good fight, and that the AAUP and posiibly the ACLU will rise to your defense, and you may well win your ultimate lawsuit for unlawful dismissal. Of course, my wife, who understands our mortage and monthly bills, would give a different answer. But I like to think that I am a good enough professor in my own field that if I were very publicly fired for standing up for the arts and free speech, such an act would make me more attractive to the sort of university environment which, let’s face it, would be a much happier place to work than what I keep hearing of ATU under Papa Doc Brown. Butr you might want to check with your significant other before following my advice.

Michael Ray Taylor, at 11:45 am EST on February 27, 2008

I’m a senior at ATU, in the Theatre program. I was Video/Image design for this show.

A few random comments: 1)Bananas would have been funny, i would have laughed, but it detracts from the seriousness of the show.

2) We have always extended an invitation to the Administration to come see our show. We reserve Dr. Brown a seat under a major leak in our roof.*

3) Our professors are scared with good reason.**

4)The gunshots sounded like a “muffled snare drum". I thought more like a piece of 2x4 dropped.

*Our “theatre” is a converted basketball gym, complete with a multitude of windows, and a skylight that was painted over. The roof leaks everywhere, including on the electrical box. When it rains, we have to put out buckets (and in one spot, a big cooler) on our stage. It is our shop (costumes included), our classroom (where we have to rig lighting to see), and our play space. However, most of us students would agree it’s better to do a show in the Techionary than in Witherspoon, where the stage is rotted, the acoustics are terrible, and the only electric bars that came with the building looks like a jeep wench with a piece of scaffolding attached to it. That’s where we do our Shakespeare, by the way.We prove constantly that you can make something from nothing, and the impossible is obtainable, and we’re very proud of that. Anyone who has graduated out of our program who wished to pursue a theatre job, in our young memory, has gotten a job somewhere.

**At least one professor in the past two years has been put on “research professor status with no contact with students” for defending us, the students’, health and well-being, i seem to remember. He was tenured. Other faculty have been fired for speaking out about an empty dorm, which had been a storage house for chemicals, being remodeled to house students again when they were not tenured. Faculty on campus are not allowed to display editorial articles written by those people, from what i understand.

As a student, I’m scared as well. I’m nearly out of this place, and if I’m kicked off campus before i graduate officially, I’ll have to transfer to finish out my degree, and restart an entire last semester. But I’m only losing money that i was going to spend anyway. Our professors are losing their livelihoods if they’re fired, possibly having to move to work at another college, which means they’d have to uproot their families.

I’ll admit i wasn’t in favor of doing this play the first time i read it, but having studied the characters in the play for image research, and reading the play (and listening to the soundtrack) over and over again, i got it, much like the prisoners understood “Waiting for Godot.” It speaks to us. Now, we want our voice heard. We don’t want to be one of those men (and women) who live lives of quiet desperation, only to go to the grave with the song in our hearts, and Thoreau says. We wanted to perform our production. Who knows if we’ll get the chance.

Rose Bonner, ATU Student at ATU, at 8:00 am EST on February 28, 2008

Arkansas Tech news release posted on www.atu.edu:

The Arkansas Tech University Theatre Department’s production of “Assassins”, which was temporarily postponed earlier this month, has been rescheduled for the weekend of March 14.

The show will be performed in its entirety with extra security measures in place. Specific details of the production are being determined and will be announced in the next few days.

Tech President Dr. Robert C. Brown made the announcement late Thursday afternoon, expressing his gratitude to Vice President Jack Hamm and Dr. Tim Smith, chair of the university’s faculty senate and a cast member of the play, for working to make sure that the show was quickly rescheduled.

“I am so pleased with the leadership of Dean Georgena Duncan, Department Head Donna Vocate, Dr. Smith and, as always, Vice President Jack Hamm, without whom this quick resolution would not have been possible,” Brown said. “The postponement of this show was never about censorship or restricting anyone’s rights; rather, it was about taking seriously our responsibility to insure the safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff. In today’s environment, that responsibility sometimes will force us to make difficult short-term decisions. I am personally pleased that we resolved the safety issues quickly and that these talented students who have worked so hard will be able to showcase their gifts in this production.”

V, at 3:25 pm EST on February 29, 2008

Advance Tickets Only

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot more fights break out at sporting events than at theatrical performances, so I hope this concern for safety means that only tickets purchased in advance will get you into Tech games henceforth, with no more door purchases, bags checked before the game can begin, etc. Otherwise, people might still think that the president is still trying to censor the play for content under a thin disguise of security concerns. And we wouldn’t want that. More educated people from New York might write him letters again. And those make his head hurt.

Michael Ray Taylor, Professor at Henderson State University, at 1:55 pm EST on March 1, 2008

I came back to this page at 12:30 in the morning expecting to see no new results. I was wrong, and I’m happy that I was wrong.

The play is going up, and this is certainly a good thing. But as Ken pointed out, what’s with these security procedures?

I’m an Alumnus of the Arkansas Tech Theatre Program, Class of ‘02. Never before has the Department had to inform the Administration of gunshots during a play. No one cared. Until now. It wasn’t an issue. No one could hear it outside the performance building unless they were in the parking lot, and then they’d think, “Oh, it’s a play. It’s the building the Theatre Kids use for theatre.”

Brown (I refuse to give him the honorific “Dr.” anymore because I don’t respect him) is consolidating what power he has. He refuses to give up—and I gotta admit, I...well, respect him for it. Tech is, after all, his money maker. Can’t blame him. He’s got nothing else.

Does anyone believe him? I would guess that ninety percent of people don’t. Then why is he still President of Arkansas Tech?

He is entrenched.

I recommend that people who STILL check this article, like myself—that people who STILL care about the future of the Tech Theatre Department, like myself—that people who STILL are champions for truth and dignity, like most of us...I recommend that we continue to pressure Tech to remove Brown and install a President who has the best interests of “A Prevailing School of Thought” in mind.

Just because he’s been President of the University since 1993 and has the power to give himself tenure, and has presided over the greatest student growth in Tech history (without the means to house them)—all this doesn’t mean that if we rid of him the whole damn thing will fall to crumbles.

That’s all there is to it.

This situation, the issue of ASSASSINS, has brought into the open the heavy-handedness and brazen authoritarianism of Brown and his...well, his henchmen/women. That’s a strong way to put it, but I don’t know another way to write it. Everyone who supports Brown is afraid for his/her job, which is understandable certainly. It’s security! Who can’t dig that? But they support him WHOLE-HEARTEDLY, despite their collective conscience, so they can live in relative comfort.

The play is going on. It took state and almost national media coverage and the ACLU to get it goin’, despite the statement that Brown made about the play being only postponed. And then he had the balls to say that he wanted it to be produced all along. I must give him credit for the fact that he used language, from the first, that would allow him to change his mind without seeming the TOTAL douche-bag.

I apologize. My mind is automatically seeking scatological references for what I think of Brown. It’s not acceptable, nor responsible. I won’t continue in this vein.

We all know that the play was canceled because Brown wanted to make a statement against campus violence that didn’t involve his precious Football Team. We all know why the play has now been given the go-ahead.

It’s up to us to decide where it goes from here.

Jason Cutler, at 5:50 am EST on March 2, 2008