Concordiensis

Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: Opinions

As I sit in my room after being turned away from Maya Angelou's speech at Memorial Chapel this past Monday, I do not find myself mad at the fact that I, a Union college student who pays $40+ thousand a year, was turned away from a speaker on my own campus. I am not mad at the fact that parents were separated from children because they happen to show up early to save seats for family members only to have those family members turned away at the door. I am not even mad at the security guards who were apparently doing their job by not allowing the back doors or windows to be opened once the speech began so that those unfortunate people who were turned away at least got a chance to hear one of the most influential people of the Civil Rights Movement. More so than anything, I am disappointed. I am disappointed in the fact that Union's administration could be so blind as to not expect this type of turn out. Also, to not show the respect to the citizens of a city with whom our relations with aren't exactly flourishing (Union is ranked 3rd amongst the worst town-gown relations in America) does not speak well for Union College. I cannot get mad at the people working the event for closing the doors, because rules are rules, but to not realize the magnitude of Dr. Angelou's reach and not plan the event for a bigger venue was a travesty and insult to her. If Dr. Angelou had known about this occurrence, I can almost guarantee she would have made concessions to accommodate for as many people as showed up for the event. She has spent her life writing about civil rights, and Union dares to turn away arguably the largest number of African-Americans that have ever been on Union's campus at one time?

I am left with two images as I end this much needed rant: the first image is of an African-American mother and son who got turned away at the door and tried to climb up on one of the crowded window sills just to see if they could catch a glimpse of the legendary Angelou. Of course this boy probably had no idea who this woman was that his mother was trying so desperately to get him to watch, but the fact that this boy's mother was trying to give him some kind of working history of Black Civil Rights, and was denied this opportunity, is a complete shame. The second image is that of a Union administrator who shall remain nameless coming out as they were closing the doors to the speech permanently and saying, "Come back next time and we'd love to have you." Dr. Maya Angelou is almost 80 years old and I personally believe I can count the number of people over 85 and who are on book tours on one hand.

Learn from your mistake Union, and don't invite one of the most influential writers of the 20th century to the campus, and open the event up to the public, without being able to sustain the hordes of people that should be expected for such a distinguished guest! I know a little place called the Field House that can easily support 2,000+ people. However, I suppose giving a bigger crowd to artists such as Common and Twista instead of Maya Angelou is more important to Union College.

-James Schwabach, '09

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