Katzen Arts Center, including practice rooms, studios and classrooms, will be closed today, Oct. 22, from 2 p.m. to about 10:30 p.m. for an annual university black tie event, leading some students to express frustration with the university’s priorities.
The Katzen parking garage will also close at 2:30 p.m.
Some Thursday classes in Katzen will be relocated and practice rooms will be closed during set-up for the dinner and during the event. Both Katzen Arts Center and the garage will be open as usual Friday, in time for Family and Alumni Weekend.
The building will close to accommodate the annual President’s Circle Dinner, an event to thank and recognize the university’s major donors, said David Taylor, President Neil Kerwin’s chief of staff.
“This is one of the very few times the building has been closed for such a period of time — mainly because the logistics [and] substantial set up that is required for a reception, dinner for 400, parking, caterers, facilities crews,” Taylor said in an e-mail to The Eagle.
The event will end around 10 p.m. Taylor estimated students with card-key access to Katzen would be able to enter the building by 10:30 p.m.
Senior in the College of Arts and Sciences Tessa Raden’s Thursday class in Katzen was moved to Tenley campus. Getting to Tenley is a hassle, Raden said.
“I could understand why they want to hold their event in Katzen — it’s easily the most beautiful building on campus,” Raden said. “But it shouldn’t be at the expense of students. They should have planned this better so that no one would be inconvenienced.”
Signs hanging on Katzen studio and practice room doors warn students the spaces will be closed today.
On one sign someone wrote, “This is total bullshit.”
Someone else replied, “Agreed.”
Kyle Encinas, a senior theater major in CAS, said there is no space to rehearse other than Katzen.
“This is the arts building, and the fact that the arts have to suffer because the president wants somewhere nice to hold his event is ridiculous,” Encinas said. “This is a big hassle for us. It’s hard not to feel slighted.”
Alex Mensing, a saxophone player for the jazz band and a senior in CAS, said his two rehearsals were cancelled as a result of the event. Mensing will not be able to work his usual hours in the Katzen music library, he said.
“I don’t like that they are shutting people out of Katzen,” he said. “Closing the building discourages students from practicing their instruments or rehearsing for plays ... The closing makes me feel like they are being elitists. It’s like they are saying that this is not really a building for students.”
Taylor said holding the event on AU’s campus is a more personal experience and less expensive than moving the event to a downtown hotel.
“We regret if taking the building ‘off line’ for approximately 8 hours will inconvenience anyone,” Taylor said. “[B]ut my understanding is it was known and communicated as early as June that the event was going to happen there, and follow-ups were done in September and beyond.”
At the event, AU Gospel Choir will perform and two AU alumni, Jack Cassell and Esther Benjamin, will be honored for their efforts to assist AU and the larger community. Kerwin will also pay tribute to Dr. Cyrus Katzen, one of the building’s namesakes, who died this year. About 400 guests will attend the event, Taylor said.
Staff writer Julia Ryan contributed to this report.
You can reach this staff writer landerson@theeagleonline.com.
