Performance Studies Students Reel in Stories From UAM's Past
Linna Jones
Editor-in-Chief
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| Photo by Linna Jones |
| Proud- Vincent Jackson tells tale of a student who described their grandparent's reaction when they see them at graduation during the Performance Studies class' "Fish Tales from Weevil Pond. April 23" Jackson finished the performance with the last fish tale of the evening. |
Gary Marshall's Performance Studies class presented "Fish Tales from Weevil Pond" before the performance of the centennial play April 23.
The class fished for tales from University of Arkansas-Monticello alumni and students and compiled them in to a script. They collected tales starting Feb. 1 to Feb. 15.
The Performance Studies class presented the collected stories before the performance of the School of Arts and Humanity’s Centennial Play “A Century of Opportunity for Comedy.”
Marshall opened the performance with a speech about the story of the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
“Our story about UAM is right here is Weevil Pond. Now these stories and the words used to tell these stories are from the weevils, from the blossoms,” he said. “They are not promoted, recommended or endorsed by The University of Arkansas at Monticello and you will also hear the characters who told these stories.”
Marshall also told the first story.
“Well, when I was a freshman here, the tradition was every April Fool’s Day we’d throw the seniors into Weevil Pond. Well that year, a bunch of seniors hid out in the tower of the music building. So what did we do, we absconded with the campus fire truck rolled it over to the music building, shot the hose up the tower and we might not have thrown them in Weevil Pond, but we soaked those seniors.”
The students caught a variety of stories from a cheerleader turning on the sprinklers at a UAM-SAU game, an attempt at cow tipping, a science experiment with cats, a $50 bet to swim across the pond, a students first experience with the UAM cannon and first memories of UAM.
The audience laughed at the friendly banter between the anglers and the stories from UAM Alumni and students.
Holly Beard told the stories of a pit bull in Bankston Hall and the proper way to conduct a "panty raid."
“I was sitting in the common room in our dorm after a panty raid having our 80-year old dorm mother tell us that we were in trouble and second tell us that we didn’t know what a real panty raid was. She said in my day girls didn’t just throw the panties down to the boys on the ground. She said in my day boys would scale the walls come in through the window and remove the panties from the ladies themselves.”
As each angler caught or lost a fish, but they told their tale and received comments about their catch from fellow anglers. The performances ended with Vincent Jackson telling the story of one student receiving his diploma.
“Now this is what I’ve been waiting on, talking about a diploma. Now this would have to be the best. Back then when I graduated, graduation was at night, because you know how hot it can be in Monticello during the summer. Well up until this point my grandparents had never came to anything for me ever. Well as we line up getting ready to walk in, I saw my grandparents walk through the door and after the ceremony it was after this moment when I saw my grandmother’s eyes. This was a look I had never seen before, she seemed so proud and it was then that I knew everything I had ever done at UAM. It was worth it.”
Marshall called the storytellers in this performance “anglers” and the students who put the stories on the hooks “noodles.”
The Anglers in story telling order included Marshall, Josh Smith, Crystal Harville, Jackson, Tiffany Reed, Christopher Brown, Rebekah Heflin, Beard and Penny Thornton.
Meg Ryan and Tara Snider were “noodlers deep in the pond.”
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| Photo by Linna Jones |
| Entertaining History- Holly Beard removes a pair of underwear from her hook to throw back before she tells the tale of panty raid and the proper way to do a panty raid. The Performances Studies class told a variety of tales sent in from Alumni and students. |
More tales fished from Weevil Pond:
Presented by Tiffany Reed:
“This reminds me of one of the most memorable moments I had at UAM. It was when I got proposed to, not because I was about to change my life or anything. But because more or less I had to find out that my boyfriend, now fiancé had to walk around door to door in Bankston to raise money to get my engagement ring and then raised $500. But the whole catch to getting this money was that he had to shave his head.”
Presented by Christopher Brown:
“This one time me and my buddy were coming back from Monroe. Well, I lived in the campus apartments over there and my buddy lived over across campus. Well, we were both pretty intoxicated that night so I told my friend to crash on my couch and spend the night there. Well, he didn’t want to and since he drove all the way back from Monroe, I allowed him to leave. So he left to drive across campus in his brand-new ’96 Chevy. Well, when I say he drove across campus, I mean he drove across the chancellor’s yard, and all kind of other grassy areas and left a multitude of ruts. Well, he ended up trying to make a turn off the science center and the FAC, but he was too drunk to realize he hadn’t made the turn. Ended getting his brand new truck stuck behind the Science Center. They had to call two tow trucks to come and get him out he was so bogged down. Well then the cops showed up. He got arrested for public intox, but you know what, he was the talk of the talk of the campus for two years and I was one of the six people who knew who did it.”
Presented by Jackson:
“I remember before I came to UAM, I read that said it was like the largest campus in the state of Arkansas. And when I pulled up on campus, I was thinking wow did I just leave my high school. Then the first day of class, I asked one of my professors “why did they say this was one of the largest campuses in Arkansas?” and he just started laughing and this kind of ticked me off. But he said all of the Cow pastures and the forests they are apart of UAM’s campus and I was thinking to myself “Gee, then they are trying to bend the truck a little, but hey, it’s UAM.”
Presented by Brown:
“I remember my first day of college classes ever, freshman composition class. I was scared to death, I didn’t know if class started at nine on the dot or 10 after like the schedule said. Well I was afraid that me and my fellow classmates were too late and the instructor had already left. When all of the sudden in runs this man in a suede suit and he starts yelling at the class. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I do remember, he liked poems; freshmen are stupid and Earth name was Red Hawk. “
Presented by Rebekah Heflin:
“Well we were all so exhausted after our debate rounds. We were at Louisiana Tech University, sitting in front of the University Center. When all of the sudden, two of our student ran across the lawn and told us we made it to finals. Well we were all very excited and two of them ran across the lawn and started doing cartwheels. Well this was a bad thing, because as one of Mr. Ray’s students, we were all expected to be prim and proper at all times. Well who walks up, but none other than Mr. Ray. He says what are ya’ll doing. We said cartwheels. He said I can do that and before I know it he across the lawn doing cartwheels and I just had to stand there in awe.”
Presented by Brown:
“This one time in theories of communication, we were going over a theory that predicts what people do and say to act like they know what they are talking about. Well, there was this one particular student who kept on talking about even though it was obvious he had no idea what he was talking about. Well, even though he got every part of that theory wrong, he demonstrated it perfectly. “
Presented by Jackson:
“I don’t know if you guys know anything about the Bankston Jungle, but trust me when I was college, I lived in Bankston. And one night about three o’clock in the morning the fire alarm goes off. Of all things, so we had to go outside in the pouring ran until campo figured out what happened.”
Presented by Beard:
“Speaking of the Bankston Jungle, I was an RA in Royer one semester and early one morning I got a phone call from one of the RA’s at Bankston saying “Hurry up, I need you over here quick, I need your help.” I was like OK, OK. So I drudge out of bed and drive over there. I go up to the second floor, because that where they tell me they were and I walk in and I see a pit bull in the bathroom. She was in labor, and all the guys were scared of her. I asked how in the world did you get this dog up here. They said well, we lured her with chicken bones through the lobby and up the stairs. So luckily we got the pit bull out of the dorm before she had puppies, but she did stay around for quite a few weeks after that.”
Presented by Lonnie Smith:
“One of the funniest moments I ever had when I was at UAM came near my glory days at Bankston Hall. Well, I come outside and I see a pile of mattresses stacked on the ground and I am wondering what’s going on and all of the sudden a guy just comes barreling out the third floor and down to the mattress. This went on for about 30-40 minutes and I mean I was having a great time watching them jump out the window. Of course, I wasn’t going to try it, but at the end of the night I kind of got sad though. Out of all the people that were doing that, nobody got hurt.”
Additional Links
Performance Studies Class Collects Stories of UAM Experiences
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