'Misleading' posters lead to postponement of Res Life event

An event at Prairie Crossing that included a screening of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" was postponed last week after students complained that the promotional posters were potentially misleading and offensive.

Residential Living and Learning (Res Life) staff planned to show the movie to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah, which ran from the evening of April 18 through the evening of the next day. The resident assistants (RAs) who planned the event asked Prairie Crossing residents to "wear your favorite wacky PJ's" on promotional posters that were placed throughout the residence hall. The movie is a historical film about the Holocaust from the perspective of a young German boy who befriends a Jewish boy he sees on the other side of a concentration camp fence.

Some students went to Res Life staff and said this could be misleading to any student who had not seen the movie and attended the event while expecting something more cheerful. Soon after a notice was also posted in Prairie Crossing that said the event had been postponed and will be "an educational program with historical context conversation" in the near future.

Director of Res Life Dennis Koch remained fairly quiet on the issue, as he did not say why Res Life staff promoted the event in the way they did, nor did he say what was being done to remedy the situation in response to questions sent by The East Texan via e-mail.

"It is not fair for me to assume that any advertising may be seen as offensive in one way or another, as that goes to a person's individual set of ethics," Koch said, "but I will say that there was no intent to be offensive or disrespectful by those presenting this program."

Koch said Prairie Crossing-specific events are planned by RAs, Hall Directors, and Honor's department staff, as the resident hall houses the Honors College and its students. Prairie Crossing Hall Director Naqui Davidson refused to comment.

Dean of the Honors College Raymond Green admitted there were faults in the promotion of the movie screening, but they were quickly resolved.

"Some mistakes were made in advertising the showing of 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,'" Green said. "Once alerted of the potentially offensive advertising, the Residential Living and Learning staff and their administrators moved quickly to correct the situation. The movie showing was canceled for the evening and will be rescheduled and will include information that will help students place the film in the appropriate historical context."

Green said the goal now is to turn this into a learning experience in more than one way.

"Although it is unfortunate that some people were offended by the advertising the hope is that the incident can provide a learning opportunity for all involved," Green said. "In fact, I would argue that this is exactly the sort of learning and conversation that should occur on a college campus."