Dozens Turned Away at Ath
November 17, 2008
by Katherine Werner
On Monday night, easily eighty community members and students were told that they would not be seeing Maureen Dowd speak. The Ath operates its talks on a "first come, first serve" basis. Apparently, more people showed up for the talk than the Ath anticipated. Dave Edwards, manager of the Ath, told a long queue of people that he could not allow any more people into the building. When someone asked if it would be possible to just stand in the back, he replied in the negative, citing the fire marshall. Several students expressed frustration that many who did not go to the school, but were in line earlier, were able to see the talk when they could not. A community member, equally disheartened, wondered why there had been so many vacant seats for last week's Michael Chertoff talk. One woman's attempt to flail her arms outside the Athenaeum windows in order to be let in was not successful. Many left with the student manager's words "Sorry, you should have come earlier" ringing in their ears.