University of Virginia Library

Performance

On March 5 I had the distinct
pleasure of attending the University
Artist Series' presentation of "Man
of La Mancha." From the standpoint
of having viewed the Series'
efforts for the last three years I
found this performance one of the
most moving and best presented of
any that have been offered. However,
the pleasure of the evening
was severely marred by the near-criminal
lack of concern for the
safety of the people of the Hall.

I recognize the admission regulation
problems of handling a
near-capacity crowd at the University
Hall where there are numerous
exits, and therefore, numerous
possible routes of entrance. However,
once the audience has been
seated there is no longer any
necessity for ALL EXITS save the
main one to be locked and chained.
No hall is so perfect that escape
from it cannot become imperative
for an audience, let alone a large
audience. With this in mind I found
the situation existing at the University
Hall on Wednesday night
inexcusable and representative of
the most callused disregard for the
safety and well-being of those
attending. Whoever was responsible
should make sure that exits are
indeed safe routes of escape and
not potential death traps, severe as
that phrase is.

A uniformed member of the
University police force was questioned
on the scene about the
problem and informed me that this
was no concern of his group. I
firmly believe that the primary and
ultimate responsibility of the University
Security Force is the protection
of the lives and well-being
of the members of the University
community and our guests, particularly
at public functions. If the
Security Force can stand around
while all exits save one are locked
at the University Hall on a night
when there is a near-capacity
audience, and not be concerned
enough to insure the escape routes
of these people, then they sadly
misjudge their duty and enormously
overstate their value to the
University and its guests.

This situation should never,
never be allowed to occur again.