The
HOWLER November EDITION
30 OCT 2023
Middle School Students to Kick-off Expanded 23-24 ACT’S Season!
THEHOWLER@ALLENDALECOLUMBIA.ORG
Forum Fallout: A Student Perspective
AMANDA MELDRUM
JAMES THORNBURG
MS students have a new elective this year called How It’s Made! Theatre Edition co-taught by Ms. Meldrum and Mrs. Hucko. This class is the answer to a request we’ve been getting for the past few years: “We want to do a play AND a musical!” Traditionally, MS students have had the opportunity to participate in creating a musical production from the end of January through mid-March. But this year, the students taking How It’s Made are finally getting the chance to do a play (non-musical) that will go up in November. The play is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Gillette Elvgren, where half of a clown troupe is abandoned by their fellow clowns, leaving only 5 performers to portray the numerous characters in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The antics that ensue involve actors wearing multiple hats (literally), sharing scenes with mannequin stand-ins, and a clown stage hand attempting to keep all of the characters straight. We are so excited for this addition to kick off AC’s ‘23-‘24 theatre season. Not only did we add a MS play, but you may have also noticed that we are closing the season with a LS musical! The 4th and 5th graders are participating in a new foundational performing arts special that will culminate with a fully staged production of Honk, Jr., a musical retelling of The Ugly Duckling. We will still be producing an US Musical, US Play, and MS Musical, for a total of 5 shows this year! We hope you will join us for some wonderful theatre. You can purchase tickets and check out our social media through the QR code. •
No matter who you are you can agree that last year’s freshman forum ended badly. Students were unhappy with the cancellation of the forum and the lack of free speech on campus. Administrators saw student turmoil and pushback unlike what they had seen before. What went wrong? Was there a better way to deal with the sensitive topic of the forum? For Those Who Don’t Know For those who may not be aware, last year, the freshmen at our school chose to focus their forum on transgender people in athletics. The students worked hard to write their essays, practiced their speeches, and were eager for their forum presentation. However, the forum was unexpectedly canceled. The freshman were informed in a meeting with admin. The rest of the Upper School was informed via an email from the school. In the email, it was stated that “the contents of the essays were not the problem.” This suggests that the Allendale Columbia community might not have been ready for such a discussion. Additionally, one can’t help but wonder if the administrators were concerned about transgender students potentially facing bullying or discrimination as a Picture by Rapheal Renter on Unsplash result of the forum’s subject matter. A group of students organized to oppose the cancellation of the forum. They collected signatures and managed to secure a meeting with the administrators. Unfortunately, after the meeting, little progress was made to address the fact that the freshman forum participants never had the opportunity to present their speeches. What Went Wrong? An Alumni Perspective from Chis Smoker Canceling the Freshmen Forum was single handedly the worst decision that I have ever experienced at Allendale Columbia. I love the students, faculty, community, and administration, but sometimes circumstance can truly sour relations. Faculty were asked about the decision, and the answers varied obviously, but student input lacked severely. Forum Fallout: A Student Perspective continued on page 2