 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Scott McCulloch A & E Editor Norma Goldstein, SCC's Dean of Humanities, was walking back into her office after checking her mail on Thursday, April 17, when she opened the bottom flap on a flyer she had just received. Inside, she saw the crooked arms of a thick, black swastika, in bold relief against a bright-red background. "I thought, 'Oh my god, someone sent me a swastika.'" said Goldstein, who is Jewish. "I had to sit down - I was shaking. I felt fear, trepidation. I had a visceral reaction to this," she said, looking down at the flyer during our interview in her office. When she opened up the top half of the flyer, she saw it was an advertisement for SCC's upcoming musical, "Cabaret," which opens May 16. "Cabaret" is set in Berlin in 1929, as the Nazis are beginning to form and consolidate power. The flyer features a young female nightclub performer sitting atop a swastika. Goldstein immediately went to her supervisor, Vice President of Academic Affairs Carol Henderson and Public Information Office (PIO) Director Judy Yu to find out if they knew about the flyer, and to tell them how she felt about it. It soon came to light that it had not received PIO approval before being printed. According to SCC regulations, all publications to be distributed off-campus must have PIO approval. The "Cabaret" flyers were set to be mailed off campus the following day. According to Yu, President Holly Moore decided to require all flyers and posters, which use the same image, to be redesigned before going off campus. They are still being posted on campus. "I guess it has to do with the power of symbols," said Goldstein, explaining her reaction to the flyer. "The swastika is a dominant symbol on this flyer. "I don't have a soft shell on me; I can't with my job. But this brought me to tears. Would the students have wanted members of the community to have a similar reaction?... We do have Jewish faculty, staff and students." She also said that her actions shouldn't be seen as an attempt to squelch free speech, since when she went to Henderson with her concerns, she assumed that the flyers had already been mailed off campus. She said she just wanted to warn the administration, and "Cabaret" Musical Director Susan Dolacky, whom she spoke to later on that day, that they might get some complaints from the public in reaction to these flyers. There was about a 10-day delay in the distribution of the posters and flyers, while the artist who designed them, Liz Martini, made changes to the design, and they were re-printed, this time as postcards. The new postcards simply feature black letters on a red background. Both the swastika and the girl have been removed. "This is not a question of censorship - this is about a policy not being followed," said Goldstein, who repeatedly stated her support for free speech. "I don't believe in censorship. I don't believe in prior restraint." She said if SCC's policies were followed more closely, situations like this could be avoided in the future. "This is a great musical," said Goldstein, who has seen several other productions of "Cabaret" in the past. "I have gone out of my way to encourage my faculty to support this musical and attend. "The real concern now is that the students and the production get the acclaim they deserve." © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |