Sara Russo

    The producer of Stanford University's annual Big Game Gaieties theatrical performance was fired, and the show's script was altered following student and administrative complaints that the production stereotyped Native Americans.

    One of Stanford's longest-running traditions, the Gaieties show has been performed each year since 1911 by the Ram's Head Theatrical Society, a student theater company, in honor of the football game between Stanford and the University of California. The Ram's Head advertises the show as "Stanford's oldest, wildest, and most popular theater tradition…singing, dancing, and nudity are guaranteed."

    Travis Helms, a junior at Stanford, instigated the controversy when he circulated an e-mail among the Native American community following the first two performances of the show on November 15th and 16th charging Gaieties with "institutional racism." "The sign on the booth had crudely drawn pictures of teepees, bows, and arrows," he described. "The person representing the Powwow booth was a blonde, white female dressed in a brown dress with fringe, trying to look Indian, and black leather boots. Throughout the skit she pantomimed 'Indian sign language,' the Sacred Pipe traditions, 'war whoops' and pranced around the booth."

    Gaieties producer Patrick Crosetto responded to Helms' accusations, apologizing for "any offense you were given by this year's Gaieties" but refusing to alter the content of the show for its third and final performance. "[A]s producer, I will not apologize for intentionally slandering any race, [neither] I nor anyone on my staff [is] racist," he insisted.

    But the board members of the Ram's Head Theatrical Society did not stand behind Crosetto. Instead, they arranged a conciliatory meeting with representatives from the Native American Cultural Center and El Centro Chicano, among other student groups. Several members of the University administration attended, but Crosetto was not invited. The Stanford Review reports that Crosetto was not invited because of fears that he would "aggravate an already delicate situation."

    The meeting produced immediate concessions from the Ram's Head Board, which agreed to remove the Native American character from the last performance of the play, and to print an apology in the Stanford Daily, the main student paper on campus. The board also agreed to seriously consider permitting the directors of each community center to preview future Gaieties scripts to discover possible "trouble areas."

    Crosetto was officially fired from his role as producer of Gaieties later that day. The Ram's Head Board claims that the decision to fire Crosetto was made before the Native American controversy developed, but Crosetto denies that this statement is accurate. "I'm a scapegoat," he told the Stanford Review, "They're trying to cover their tracks, because the real reason they fired me had nothing to do with my job as a producer, but a disagreement over politics."

    Several Stanford administrators who participated in Gaieties also sought to disassociate themselves from the controversy. Dean of Students Marc Wais, University President John Hennessy, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Robin Mamlet, and Vice Provost for Student Affairs James Montoya are reported to have considered abstaining from the show's final performance before the Native American character was removed.

    Questions also remain about the accuracy of Helms' accusations that the "Pow-wow booth was the only 'cultural' related issue in the play not represented by the respected cultural group. Native Americans were the only group mocked." The Stanford Review reports that the following characters were also depicted in Gaieties: