I want to state, in the interest of accuracy, I had not memorized all
Poe's poetry. There were, and still are, several other poems, in
addition to The Bells, which I have not included within my
repertoire. It is probably fair to say I knew most of his poetry,
and, at this writing I probably still do, although I have not "performed"
recently upon the bench north of the U.C. Many students no doubt
remember having witnessed one or two of those poetic expositions during
their tenure at Tulane.
The official, recorded name of the puppy, as I told Mr. Whiton at the
time, is MFP's May Swaisey von Alker Hall. MFP stands for Main Force
Patrol, as portrayed in Mad Max. May Swaisey is a character in that
movie. Alker Hall is the name of the kennel from which she was
acquired. Most of the time she is simply called,
"May".
Ultimately,
Readmission:
During my months of protest at Freret and
McAlister I had an occasional opportunity to greet Dr. Kelly in
passing. I would say, "Hello, Dr. Kelly" and offer my hand.
Dr. Kelly would shake my hand and return the greeting, just saying,
"Hello." before moving on.
There was another person in Dr. Kelly's
administration with whom I hoped I would speak. This man headed the
University Counsel's office. I knew his name was Ron Mason and that
Linus Coignet, who had orchestrated my removal back in 1990, reported to
him. I had never met him or seen him or any photo of him. Now
what followed was very strange, because I am not the least bit
psychic. However, I began to scrutinize almost every person who exited
Percival Stern Hall, the building I faced while "at my post". In
each case I would ask myself, "Could this person be Ron Mason?".
Most just didn't fit. Most were undergraduates, much too new in the
world to be capable of directing the legal affairs of Tulane
University. Finally, one afternoon a gentleman emerged and as I
scrutinized him I immediately said to myself, "Of all the people I've seen
on campus most likely to be Linus' boss, this is the man." So I
approached him, and said to this total stranger, "You're Ron Mason, aren't
you?" To my complete amazement, he said, "Yes." It was not a
line I had used in the past. I had never asked another person that
question. I do not have any clear understanding of the perhaps
subliminal cues which might have been responsible for the accuracy of my
selection. It just happened, and I've always regarded it as a
wonderful part of this story.
I told Ron, "There has been an injustice
here." He seemed to have vague knowledge of the matter and suggested
I make an appointment with his assistant. He gave me her number,
and I called. Eventually we met in his office. He
indicated he wanted to do most of the talking, and he did so. It
appeared he was willing to look into the issue to see if I could be
readmitted without exposing Tulane to any liability issues.
Ultimately he presented the matter to the Undergraduate Student
Government, and the question of whether or not I should be readmitted was
put to a vote before that body. The result, as I recall, was about
60% in my favor and the path for my return was
cleared.
There were a few additional words which passed
between Dr. Kelly and myself, prior to my return to the U.C. bench.
In fact, there was something of a fascinating and even telling
confrontation between us. The incident was as remarkable as it was
brief. It is a story I like to tell face-to-face. So, if you
are curious, please ask me about it when we meet in person.
Before concluding, I would like to present some
additional reports which appeared more recently in the Hullabaloo, in
regard to my "career" at Tulane.