Dumb dumb dumby-dumb Registration Fee Stuff

This is a letter that I wrote to the Administrative Assistant of the theatre department of Northern Arizona University a while back. ACTF stands for American College Theatre Festival. Names have been changed.

Dear Administrative Assistant,

Hi, this is Telemoonfa. I'm a senior majoring in Theatre Education. I was going to go to the ACTF thing back in February but then I decided not to go. Jathleen told me that I owe the theatre department $65 for the registration fee. Jathleen also told me that I needed to pay the $65 before June 1st and she told me to contact you about it.

First I want to double-check that I really do owe the money. Do I? If I really really really do, then I'll pay it before June 1st. But if I don't owe the money, that would be nice.

Now I don't mean to cause any trouble. But, to be honest, I don't feel like I ought to owe the $65.

First of all, I never knew about the registration fee for the conference. As near as I can recollect, I was never informed that there was a registration fee for the conference at all. I was also never informed that if I decided not to attend the conference, I would owe the registration fee. Had I known this information, I probably would not have agreed to go to the conference in the first place.

I could understand that the department would be upset if I backed out a day or two before the theatre group left for L.A. If I had taken on responsibilities for the trip, such as crewing for the competition play, I would understand why the theatre department would be miffed. But I decided not to go about a month before the conference. I don’t feel like I inconvenienced the department by changing my mind at such an early date.

In fact, I would think that the department would actually save money by me not attending the conference. Since I didn’t go, the department didn’t have to give me food money, and perhaps they could have reduced the number or size of hotel rooms they were getting. I heard it said that the theatre department couldn’t take a large amount of people to the conference due to budgetary constraints. So I thought that my absence would actually save the department money.

I wonder if some in the theatre department might be upset that I never really gave a good reason for backing out of the conference. I didn’t go for a lot of reasons. I didn’t feel like getting ready for the Irene Ryan auditions, I didn’t feel like being away from my home for a week, and I didn’t want to leave for a week during my student teaching. So, it was really a bunch of silly personal reasons that kept me from going. I want it to be clear that I have enjoyed my time in the NAU theatre department greatly. I appreciate the kindness, generosity and professionalism of the faculty.

Like I said, if the theatre department insists that I owe the money, I’ll pay the money. I won’t feel ecstatic about it, but I’ll do it.

If nothing else, hopefully this email will help to improve communication between faculty and students regarding ACTF registration fees in the future.

Feel free to forward this email to anybody you feel is necessary.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa

Update: I ended up paying the $65. I didn’t have to, but Jathleen said she thought it was the right thing to do. I’m not so sure that it was the right thing to do, but I paid it just because I didn’t want to burn any bridges. Plus, I sort of thought that giving money to the theatre department would support the arts. But I also thought, “No way am I paying the money! I could buy so many CDs with that $65!” Maybe I paid it because I’m a pushover and am easily intimidated by people who dress nicely and have their own offices.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little anecdote. See you later.