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Comic's act 'improper' for Carlow stage, president says
Tuesday, March 13, 2001 By Bill Schackner, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Carlow College canceled a campus appearance by a lesbian comic because the act's content "would be improper for our stage," the school's president said yesterday.
Sister Grace Ann Geibel's remarks were Carlow's first attempt to explain why it booked Suzanne Westenhoefer in November for a campus auditorium, then notified the comedian's representatives that it had changed its mind days before she was to take the stage on Sunday.
In a faxed, three-paragraph statement, Geibel said Carlow values diversity and respect for others.
She said discourse on her campus is protected by the principles of academic freedom when "deemed appropriate by the faculty for the pursuit of learning and the impartial search for truth."
But Geibel said that standard does not apply to Westenhoefer's appearance.
"This event is not a matter of academic freedom, as neither our faculty nor our students were involved in the sponsorship of this event," Geibel said. "The college chose to cancel this contract, as was its right, when it determined the content of the performance would be improper for our stage."
Carlow officials offered no further comment and would not say yesterday what aspect of Westenhoefer's act was inappropriate. Steve Fatla, theater manager for Antonian Hall, has said that in light of the dispute, the school might create a policy governing who can perform in the 915-seat auditorium.
Westenhoefer, who has appeared on HBO and network television, will instead appear Sunday evening at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.
The comic and her Los Angeles-based manager, Steven Nash, have accused the Catholic college with 2,100 students of discriminating against Westenhoefer because she is gay. Both said yesterday that Geibel's remarks had further offended them.
"A slap in my face," Westenhoefer said. "That is their example of showing dignity and respect?"
The likelihood of making a case for discrimination could lie in whether Carlow's rental of Antonian Hall to groups not affiliated with the campus constitutes a "public accommodation," one civil liberties advocate said, and in proving that the cancellation was because of the comic's sexual orientation.
The Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations has jurisdiction over discrimination cases under the city's 1990 gay rights law, said Witold Walczak, Pittsburgh director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"It's the only law in Pittsburgh that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation," he said.
Westenhoefer describes herself as a storyteller and pundit rather than someone who does one-liners. She acknowledges using obscenities but says they are less common in her act than in others often seen on campus. She says she discusses a range of subjects from sex and relationships to careers and family life.
Schools across the city routinely field requests for use of lecture halls, ballrooms and auditoriums and have developed policies for their use.
The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University doubted that Westenhoefer's act would have run afoul of any campus policy so long as it was sponsored by a campus group. Chatham College expressed a similar view.
But Westenhoefer's appearance might have run counter to the mission at Duquesne University, another Catholic college, spokeswoman Ann Rago said.
"We're not saying that somebody who has a certain lifestyle cannot perform at our facilities. It would be the content of their show," she said.
"If she is known to do an entire routine on lesbian lifestyle and jokes, I don't think that would fit within our mission," Rago said. "That's not to say that a performer with a joke here or there that is off-color wouldn't get to use our facilities."
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