Letters to the editor
Bravo, Igwe; Thanks, SAC
As a parent of an undergraduate student at Santa Clara University, I was dismayed at your front page article published Thursday Jan. 21 about Igwebuike's financial difficulties prior to the theatre presentation celebrating MLK Day.
Obviously the economy is in a tailspin and the impact has reverberated across socio-economic class.
I attended the performance with my wife and we thought that Igwebuike's performance was hilarious and entertaining. I felt that the writer's purpose was unclear and quite frankly insidious, unfair and unbalanced. It does not appear to me that his so called expose revealed any financial malfeasance or impropriety. It was, in my opinion, a poor attempt at investigative journalism.
It is a mark of reproach for the writer to entertain the thought that this community would not have rallied behind Igwebuike in order to accomplish the task of continuing to raise awareness and understanding of the history of race relations in this country particularly in honor of MLK. After all, the show was a student presentation without a Hollywood budget.
Bravo to Igwebuike for staging the show in spite of financial difficulties and thanks to Santa Clara University Student Affairs Committee for its vision and commitment. The show must go on.
Iffy
Igwebuike bailout
So Igwebuike made a few irrationally exuberant financial mistakes and Associated Students made the admirable decision to designate some emergency funds for their "too big to fail" MLK event. Hopefully Associated Students' move will inspire confidence during these uncertain times, and hopefully Igwebuike -- like the TARP recipients -- will be put on a repayment plan that demonstrates their commitment to responsible finance and replenishes the tapped general club fund. Fortunately, Associated Students' $682 bailout is a bit easier to swallow than the trillions from the U.S. government.
Colleen Sinsky
Economics '10
Financial drama doesn't matter
After such a great performance I think it is very sad that this is the focus of the event. Dr. King left behind so much and this is how we remind people. Who really cares about the drama behind the scenes? Doesn't that happen with every event?
Online Comment
Article's true meaning
No offense to Igwe's event, but the fact that you're having an MLK night isn't newsworthy. It's a great event, and this is the first year in my four years of attending SCU that I have not been in attendance. But it's an event that is held every year. If I pick up a newspaper with yet another front-page article of something I've already heard of, why would I read it? I am aware it is happening.
The article was not, in my opinion, meant to cast MLK night in a negative light. For those of you that read it without getting all worked up, you'd see that it mentions how unprecedented these short-notice emergency funds were awarded. It mentions that bylaws were passed in order to get Igwe the funds they needed to perform this event.
How is that negative?
It doesn't mean that it's wrong that Igwe got special treatment. It merely mentions that this is the first time an event like this has happened. Maybe it's good coverage, letting organizations across Santa Clara know that if they're ever in a tight spot right before their largest event of the year, AS would consider emergency funding for them so they can still hold it.
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