'The Red and Blue' archives destroyed; U. approved removal

The Red and Blue archives, estimated to be worth over $100,000, disappeared from their storage location in Irvine Auditorium this weekend, and were thrown away, according to The Red and Blue spokesperson Thor Halvorssen. Halvorssen, a College junior, said some of the issues and bound volumes that were removed from the office -- which the magazine shares with other student organizations -- dated back to 1889. So far, only a few issues have been recovered, some of which were found Friday night in a nearby dumpster. He added that the magazines are valuable because The Red and Blue was the first college magazine in the Ivy League. College junior Jennifer Lynch, co-chairperson of Penn Musicians against Homelessness, which shares the office, said that some members of her organization along with Houston Hall employees threw away the papers. Lynch said that last Thursday, magazines from The Red and Blue, Punch Bowl and other campus publications were placed in a hallway. Lynch explained that the magazines and papers were later removed Friday because they were creating a fire hazard by blocking the hallway. The hallway need to be cleared immediately because an environmental conference was being held in the building. But she added that three copies of each magazine were saved, two for University archives and one for The Red and Blue Editor-in-Chief Christopher Robbins, a College junior. "It was a misunderstanding," Lynch said. "We were under the impression they were no longer in that space. I'm completely shocked by Chris [Robbins] calling police at three o'clock in the morning. I had no idea this would be a major dispute." And Lynch said she had no intention of purposely harming The Red and Blue. "There was no malicious intent whatsoever," Lynch said. "We just wanted a musical rehearsal space. There was no political agenda as far as I know it." Kevin Chun, information coordinator for student life activities and facilities, said his supervisors authorized the removal of the papers. "This thing is getting blown out of proportion," Chun said. "I encouraged [PMAH] to keep things for posterity. I don't think this was at all malicious." Lynch said she had been in contact with Robbins, asking him to remove his materials from the office. "We asked them to please move papers out of the office," she said. "We delayed working on the office for several months, waiting for Robbins to move the stuff." And Chun said he thought The Red and Blue had no access to the room for the past two years. Halvorssen disagreed with Chun, stating that The Red and Blue has keys to the office, and has gone into the facility periodically to access their archives or supplies. In addition, he said that no one on the magazine's staff had been notified to remove their belongings, or that they could not use the office. Lynch said that she expected The Red and Blue to vacate the room after it was given to PMAH and the Curtis Organ Restoration Society for use as a musical practice space. Halvorssen said that 477 issues dating from 1889 to 1938 were missing. He said the documents also included more recent issues of the magazine, stationary and office supplies. "It's really sad," Halvorssen said. "Why did this have to happen? It's just really appalling. "It was a complete and total disappearing act," he added. "There's no trace of The Red and Blue ever having been in that office." Halvorssen said he searched through a dumpster behind Irvine and recovered about 15 percent of the missing magazines. He also said that he definitely suspects foul play due to recent incidents with The Red and Blue. He cited such episodes as the Student Activities Committee refusing to fund the group. "We demand Penn Police and the administration carry out an exhaustive investigation against the deliberate and malicious attempt at sabotaging The Red and Blue. "As far as we're concerned we're going to pursue this farther," Halvorssen added. "Everything right now points to foul play." Halvorssen said he made a report with University Police, and contacted Physical Plant officials, who had no knowledge of work being done in the room.