IF YOU GO

‘PostSecret Live’ Multimedia Presentation

Where: Goldstein Auditorium

When: Today, 8 p.m.

How much: $3 for students, $5 for faculty/staff

 

Secrets aren’t any fun — unless they’re shared with everyone.

The ultimate secret sharer, PostSecret founder Frank Warren, will bring his ‘PostSecret Live’ multimedia presentation to Goldstein Auditorium in Schine Student Center Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Started in November 2004, the PostSecret project allows people to write their deepest secrets on postcards and mail them in to Warren, who has compiled select postcards into five books and runs a blog, updating it every Sunday with new secrets.

Warren is spending this fall bringing his ‘PostSecret Live’ presentation to college campuses across the country. During the presentation, he shows postcards banned by Warren’s publisher, tells stories behind the secrets and allows students to come up to the microphone and share their own stories. He will also autograph copies of his books after the presentation tonight.

Warren will tell the stories behind strangers’ secrets, but Syracuse University students will have the opportunity to share their own secrets as well. University Union has had a table in Schine the past week, where students write their secrets and confessions on sheets of paper, said Amanda Shaw, the co-director of UU Performing Arts who organized the event. UU collected the secrets in a box and will present them to Warren tonight.

‘It’s not a formal postcard, but it still gives students that outlet,’ Shaw said.

‘We chose to bring Frank Warren here because we truly felt he’s someone a ton of people can relate to,’ Shaw said. ‘His main goal is to show that everyone has their own secrets, but even though everyone is so different, we’re all kind of the same.’

The secrets Warren publishes range in seriousness, from confessions about wanting to commit suicide and hiding one’s sexual orientation to singing Disney show tunes while driving. One postcard on the website reads, ‘My creative gifts are worth the mental illness I’ve suffered for them.’ Another announces, ‘Living out of the car has allowed me to see the entire country. Thanks economy!’

‘We haven’t brought anyone like Frank Warren to campus in a really long time,’ Shaw said. ‘He’s an interesting guy — he created an entire company based on people sharing secrets. The whole PostSecret story is really cool.’

The show was nearly sold out as of Tuesday night, Shaw said. She said she received e-mails from eager students, thanking her for bringing Warren and his presentation to campus.

‘The feedback has been really great,’ she said. ‘We’ve been working with other organizations to publicize it, and we are co-sponsoring the event with the National Pan-hellenic Council, which should give us a good turnout from members of the greek community. Everyone seems really excited.’

Giving people an outlet for their fear, shame, joy and sadness is what PostSecret is all about.

‘I think PostSecret is such a cool project that’s helped so many people,’ said Debbie Lechtman, a sophomore magazine journalism major. Lechtman said she has read the PostSecret blog every Sunday for the past three years. ‘I’m really interested to hear what (Warren) has to say,’ she said.

However devastating, funny, touching or ironic the secrets and stories may be, students can’t wait to hear about them.

‘I’m really excited to hear Frank Warren’s thoughts on keeping and telling secrets,’ said Maddie Dockery, a sophomore broadcast journalism major. ‘It’s interesting what people are willing to reveal to complete strangers.’

ertocci@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm