UA’s Creative Campus Initiative to Host Foster Auditorium Awareness Week

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s Creative Campus Initiative will host Foster Auditorium Awareness Week April 6-10 on the UA campus. The week is planned as a response to ongoing conversation about Foster and the variety of historically significant cultural events that have taken place there.

One of many historic sites on the UA campus, Foster Auditorium has hosted events ranging from a women’s conference featuring Lady Bird Johnson to concerts by James Brown, the Fontaine Sisters, and the Navy Band to fraternity and sorority formals, student registration and graduation. Many remember it as the location where former Alabama Gov. George Wallace stood in the doorway in his unsuccessful attempt to block African-American students Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood from registering at the University on June 11, 1963. Creative Campus seeks to provide an opportunity for students and the community to learn more about the building and engage in conversations about its future.

Plans for this week of information sharing include the Past, Present and Future Forum which will take place on Monday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Ballroom. This forum will feature a panel discussion including previously recorded questions from UA students as well as discussion topics presented by audience members in attendance. Panelists include UA Student Government Association President Steven Oliver, former SGA President Cason Kirby, student leader Kendra Key, former UA Assistant Dean of Women Glenda Guyton, UA professor emerita and past curator of the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library Joyce Lamont, and UA alumna Candace Portis. Refreshments will be served immediately following the panel discussion.

In addition, Creative Campus has launched the interactive web-forum www.talkaboutfoster.com to encourage open dialogue about the impact Foster Auditorium has had on the lives of blog contributors.

For more information regarding Foster Week visit www.TalkAboutFoster.com, www.creativecampus.ua.edu, or call 205-348-7884.

Under the auspices of UA’s Office of Academic Affairs The Creative Campus Initiative is a collaborative system connecting students, faculty, and community to nurture innovative thinkers who turn ideas into action. Creative Campus seeks to serve as a hub of collaboration and creative activity at The University of Alabama. At the heart of Creative Campus is the undergraduate and graduate intern program. For more information on Creative Campus visit www.creativecampus.ua.edu