At a meeting Wednesday morning, Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan told Taylor Bright '05, the student whose Newman's Day t-shirts were confiscated Friday, that she would need to consult with University counsel before returning the shirts.
Deignan said she was concerned that by giving the shirts back, the University would be contributing to infringement on actor Paul Newman's right to publicity because his image was used on one of the two shirt designs. Deignan and Bright are scheduled to meet again Friday.
Some of the shirts, which were to be sold and worn last Saturday on Newman's Day, feature a picture of Newman's face. According to a statement released Tuesday by the University, the University counsel said the use of Newman's image "might cast the celebrity in a 'false light' and, given that the shirts were to be sold for a profit, might constitute a misappropriation of his 'rights of publicity.'"
If the shirts are returned, Bright would not be allowed to sell them on campus, Deignan said.
She added that during the meeting, she "urged Taylor to think very carefully about the wisdom of distributing these shirts in any way."
Bright said he hopes to get the shirts back or receive compensation from the University for $15 a shirt, the price at which they were being sold.
Bright said he is concerned by the amount of time it has taken for the University to respond to his efforts to reclaim the property.
After the shirts were confiscated Friday afternoon, Bright met briefly with Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Hilary Herbold and was instructed to meet with Deignan, who had gone home for the day.
When Bright called Monday to schedule an appointment, he was told that Deignan's earliest available opening was Wednesday.
"I went in today expecting to have answers, and the only answers I got were that she needed to consult with the counsel," Bright said after the meeting.
"We're talking about the return of my property, which I see as an urgent situation," he said. "The University has seemed to be putting it off."
In a statement released by the University, Deignan called the shirts "accoutrements of a very dangerous drinking game."
She said that Newman's Day and the unauthorized sale of merchandise from dorm rooms are violations of University policy.
"On the eve of Newman's Day, this was entirely a safety matter and I acted in the interest of campus safety," Deignan said.
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