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Volume 119 · No. 136
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His Final Act
BATON ROUGE COMMUNITY
Friends gather for drowning victims’ memorial
Students, faculty remember University professor John LeBret’s influence after death BY KAYLA RANDALL krandall@lsureveille.com To leave a lasting legacy at a flagship university is no small feat, but that’s what HopKins Black Box Theatre manager and communication studies professor John LeBret was able to do in his time at the University. During his 42 years of life, LeBret opened people’s eyes to all sorts of creative possibilities and gained the respect and love of his students and colleagues. After his death March 11 after complications from pneumonia, those close to LeBret remember all they’ve learned from him and the effect he had on them that will never be forgotten. Performance studies instructor Bonny McDonald worked with LeBret, and he often helped her with Black Box productions. She said he was a model and a mentor to her when it came to putting her own shows together. “John’s style is very subtle and artistic, and my interest as an artist is to address political and social issues,” McDonald said. “Sometimes, it’s hard to make political issues artistic, but John really
University students hold a ‘Black Out Wednesday’ solidarity demonstration in the Quad on Wednesday in protest of alleged police brutality against Freddie Gray in Baltimore.
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The Daily Reveille
helped me.” For her latest show, “Racy,” McDonald credits LeBret’s influence for being comfortable enough to tackle the topic of racism in a subtle and expressive way. Now, when doing productions in the Black Box, McDonald said she often wonders, “Would John like this?” and “Would this be too cheesy for John?” As the Black Box manager, he had a vision for everything from the staging to the lights, which McDonald said she will carry on with future endeavors. LeBret’s artistic vision also affected performance studies graduate student Cynthia Sampson, who worked with him as a cast member in last semester’s “On a Snowy Evening,” which LeBret directed. His creative mind is something Sampson said she will never forget. “One of the really cool things about John is he was really great at taking whatever you had and making something really interesting out of it,” Sampson said. For the show, LeBret, Sampson and the rest of the cast spent a great deal of time thinking about
see LEBRET, page 4
BY CARRIE GRACE HENDERSON chenderson@lsureveille.com
EMILY BRAUNER / The Daily Reveille
University professor John Lebret taught CMST 3900 in the Black Box Theatre, where students built their own puppets and discussed puppet theory.
More than 100 people gathered in the International Cultural Center as the sun set Wednesday to celebrate the lives of Anton Joe and Ishita Maity, two graduate students in the Department of Physics and Astronomy who drowned in a pool in Tigerland early Sunday morning. The solemn ceremony gathered friends, professors and classmates from the University and their home country of India. Joe, 25, had recently been nominated for a graduate assistant award on Friday, physics dept. chair Michael Cherry said, and had a “tremendous future ahead of him.” Joe is survived by a father, mother, brother and sister, all of whom live in India. Maity, 28, had been in the department for two years under
see MEMORIAL, page 15
STUDENT LIFE
Students stand in solidarity with Baltimore BY EMILIE HEBERT emiliehebert@lsureveille.com
Students and faculty of different races united in the Quad on Wednesday to express their solidarity with the Baltimore, Maryland, protesters in a special installment of Black Out Wednesdays. The demonstration was in response to days of riots and arrests in Baltimore following the funeral of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who died of a spinal cord injury while in police custody. Black Out Wednesdays this year began during Black History Month to provide a safe space for people of color to celebrate the University’s diversity, said founder and mass communication sophomore Kristen White. Participants are encouraged to wear all black in the Quad the last Wednesday of each month. A photographer provides complimentary
services, and the pictures are featured on the event’s Facebook page and in the next month’s flier. The Baltimore riots come at a time of increasing suspicion toward excessive police brutality in America, sparked by the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, last August. White said she wanted to use this month’s event to show support for Baltimore, though she said she does not agree with the violence used by many in response to suspected police brutality. “I just need people to know that we don’t condone the riots that are going on in Baltimore,” White said. “Rioting doesn’t solve anything, but these people are angry. This is years of anger built up, and when you get pushed, you’re going to react. And this is them acting out.” History junior Blair Elizabeth Brown encouraged bystanders to
open their minds and accept black people as humans. Brown said the protests in Baltimore are a valid response to the unfair treatment of the black community but are misrepresented in the news. Brown began a “no justice, no peace” chant as participants laid on their backs in a circle, which White said symbolizes those such as Michael Brown who died in recent cases of alleged police brutality. Sociology and women’s and gender studies professor Sarah Becker joined the circle and said she is concerned with the skewed media coverage of the events in Baltimore. Though she sees examples of racism on campus, she appreciates different groups from across the University uniting for a good cause.
see BALTIMORE, page 15