after-words.org

SAN FRANCISCO / Class takes to street to protest censorship / Academy of Art's expulsion of pupil angers authors, too (San Francisco Chronicle/SFgate.com, Thursday, April 8, 2004)

Black-clad art students smoking black cigarettes massed on the sidewalk when a "pop culture'' class erupted into a full-blown demonstration at the in San Francisco on Wednesday. Just under 100 students were joined on the downtown sidewalk by a group of nationally known authors who gathered to support freedom of expression and to protest the recent expulsion of a student and dismissal of a teacher. [...] brief speeches were given by Daniel Handler, Dave Eggers, San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez and David Green of the First Amendment Project. Author Herb Gold and Zoetrope magazine editor Tamara Straus were also on hand. [...] The incident soon took on a life of its own, particularly after a story ran in The Chronicle in late March. That was when Handler became concerned and helped organize a "forum on free expression" to be held in Kaufman's class last week. But when he arrived at the school, security guards blocked him from entry. On Wednesday, he was again denied access to the building at 180 New Montgomery St., which led Kaufman to bring his class to the street. The administration explained that in both cases, Kaufman had not submitted Handler's name on a list of guests that instructors are required to file in advance.