A&T’s Harrison Auditorium has been re-opened after a two-year renovation.Closed for renovation since 2004, Harrison Auditorium was once home to an assortment of student programs and performances.In 2006, Harrison Auditorium will continue to house musical performances, theatrical performances and student programs.  Natasia Watkins remembers how well the facility has served A&T students in the past.”When we have speakers ?” it’s cheaper to rent out Harrison as opposed to the Alumni Center. We could afford a bigtime speaker,” Watkins said.Senior Development Officer Martine E. Chavis recounted the historical significance of Harrison Auditorium; she said Richard B. Harrison, the son of two fugitive slaves, became A&T’s first drama department director after initiating the program himself.Chavis named several of the many culturally significant leaders who graced the stage of Harrison Auditorium, such as singer Marian Anderson and philosopher Alain Locke. Marcus Bass, a sophomore business administration major, was also moved by the occasion.”Seeing the inside of this facility- it was really a monument; a testament to us as African Americans and to us as past and present Aggies.  I feel privileged to be a part of this history,” Bass said.The newly renovated Harrison Auditorium has better acoustics and more comfortable seating. Chavis, who believes in “the transference of knowledge and history”, is confident that the newly reopened state-of-the-art Harrison Auditorium will continue to positively impact our community like Harrison himself.”[The newly renovated Harrison Auditorium] will take this institution into the next century,” Chavis said.

• Sheridan Long