Petition: Keep theater in new student center

and BETH TRITTER The Revlon Center may be delayed, but it has not been forgotten. At least not by the more than 300 students and performing arts supporters who signed a petition calling for the preservation of the student center's proposed black box theatre and auditorium. The petition, distributed at a rally held yesterday by the University's performing arts community, also calls for increased funding efforts for the campus center, the appointment of a permanent "ultimate decision maker" for the project and a re-examination of plans to name the building after the Revlon Foundation, which donated $10 million to the project. "[Interim Provost Marvin] Lazerson expressed to me that there is a good possibility that the theatre will be cut," said Performing Arts Council Chairperson Bardo Ramirez. "If we're cut out of the Revlon Center then it will be a disaster." Lazerson and Interim President Claire Fagin announced in October that the center's proposed $65 million pricetag was too expensive for the University to absorb. New plans are being developed with the goal of decreasing the price to $40 million, Lazerson has said. Student Performing Arts Coordinator Kathryn Helene said the 200-seat theatre and the auditorium have been in the works since planning began in 1989. Ramirez, who said he has been involved in the center's planning processes for the last four years, said the careful designing done in the past "is being thrown out the window to attach a lower price tag" to the project. A flyer distributed at yesterday's rally said that cutting the "vital aspects of the Campus Center" would be "the unkindest cut of all, not only for performing arts, but for all students on this campus." It alleges that the "three and one half years of planning, and the public presentation of architectural models are being arbitrarily thrown out, without consulting students in any way." The lack of adequate rehearsal space as well as a dearth of suitable theatres accessible to student groups also provided impetus for the rally, which included speeches by Ramirez and other members of the performing arts community as well as performances by various groups. "I think that it's appalling how much of a presence we have on campus and how much we do for the community and how little we are supported by the funds and availability of rehearsal space by the administration," said Glee Club member and College sophomore Todd Shotz. Many student performers at the University say elimination of these precious performance and rehearsal locations will not benefit the University, even if they result in the scaling-down of facility costs. "Finding rehearsal and performance space at this school is one of the most frustrating things to deal with," said College sophomore and Quaker Notes member Jessica Thrope. "By not building the auditorium and other facilities, things can only get worse."