Elon University students are really into weird things.
So many students, in fact, that the doors were closed and locked 15 minutes before Skeptic Magazine founding publisher Michael Shermer’s talk on weird things was set to begin in Whitley Auditorium Tuesday evening.
As students swarmed the front steps of the auditorium, they were met with the refrain, “We’re at capacity. We’re not letting anyone else in.”
Patti Gibbons, associate director of cultural and special program and coordinator of the Liberal Arts Forum, which sponsored Shermer’s talk, said to the gathering crowd that all 412 seats were taken.
Watch Michael Shermer's full Why Do People Believe Weird Things? talk on YouTube.
Letting more students in would violate Alamance County fire code, Gibbons explained to the increasingly agitated, murmuring crowd that took its time to disperse.
“We do our best to schedule our events in space that can accommodate as many guests as possible, and on this night Whitley was the best available space, and we used it, and there was just a lot of interest in the event,” Gibbons.
Many students attending Shermer’s talk for course credit seemed out of luck, but Gibbons urged them to ask their professors to contact her or another organizer in the Liberal Arts Forum for an explanation.
But some students weren’t satisfied. Many were concerned about receiving failing grades, or else missing the opportunity to earn extra-credit.
“I got here a little before 7:30,” sophomore Joe Centofanti said. “I saw people already standing outside, and I didn’t know what the whole ruckus was about. My opinion was, ‘Why did it have to be here if they knew it was going to be such a popular venue?’ It’s mind-blowing. I could really get a zero on my assignment because of this.”
Sophomore Ismael Sanchez Delfin was surprised at the number of attendees, having also arrived at Whitley a few minutes early.
“I will not be penalized but I was hoping to get extra credit for the course,” he said. “I just didn’t expect this many people to come here.”
Part of the problem may be students procrastinating attending required cultural events for class until after Fall Break, Gibbons suggested.
“A lot of times when students get back from Fall Break, they realize they have to get their cultural events done, and these events have been going on since early September,” she said.
It may be time for the Liberal Arts Forum to reconsider the appropriation of space for speakers, said SGA Executive President Welsford Bishopric. He was also locked out.
“I think that it’s incredible that we filled Whitley so quickly for such an intellectually engaging speaker,” he said. “That said, it’s also a pretty strong argument for us to explore continued enhancements to facilities across campus. It’s something that we’re definitely going to explore, and I encourage the university to as well.”