Circus appearance canceled by weather

Circus+appearance+canceled+by+weather

By Rachel Scaman

The show will not go on for the Circus Spectacular, whose planned Convocation Center performance drew ire from some students and faculty members.

The George Carden circus visit — which had been set for March 4 — was canceled because of “inclement weather and travel conditions,” according to a Tuesday news release. A circus spokeswoman said there are no plans to stop by NIU in the future because it would not fit in the circus’ schedule.

Anthropology assistant professor Mitch Irwin created a petition in late January to cancel the Circus Spectacular because it featured animal performers. The petition had gathered more than 2,700 supporters by Tuesday evening, and on Sunday the Student Association Senate almost unanimously voted to release a resolution showing its opposition to the circus.

SA Senate Speaker Dillon Domke said he considers the cancellation not only a victory for SA, but for animals everywhere.

“Quite frankly, we’re happy with this,” Domke said. “There was an overwhelming amount of votes to cancel the circus.”

Domke said he is not convinced the circus was canceled due to inclement weather.

“I don’t know how weather can be predicted more than two weeks in advance, but I can’t be certain given the weather we have been having,” Domke said.

Domke said he had sent NIU President Doug Baker and Sean Frazier, associate vice president and director of athletics, memos expressing SA’s opinion on the circus around 11 a.m. Tuesday.

“Now the circus isn’t coming to NIU, and that’s what SA wanted,” Domke said.

Tickets will be refunded starting 10 a.m. Friday. Tickets bought through the Convocation Center and Ticketmaster must be returned to the place they were purchased.

“Our main goal is to ensure the safety of our animals and performers while also providing a great entertainment experience for all patrons in attendance at our shows.

“The weather conditions have made it extremely difficult to navigate from each of our event locations,” said Bill Cunningham of Agente Entertainment, Inc., the operator of Carden Entertainment’s original three-ring circus, according to the news release. “We regret having to cancel our show in the DeKalb community but invite those individuals who purchased tickets to attend one of our alternate locations in the area.”

Associate athletic director Ryan Sedevie did not respond to calls about the cancellation.