The College of Complexes, the Playground for People Who Think, extends an open invitation to anyone who wishes to speak at its weekly free speech forum. Over 3,300 meetings of the college have been held since its inception in 1951. The name, by the way, is derived from a psychiatric term for repressed ideas that compel expression. It aptly describes the student body.
The format is as follows: A speaker is invited to address the group without interruption, followed by a question and answer period. Then everyone attending may candidly comment for 5 minutes each on the topic, during infamous "Remarks/Rebuttals" period. Attendance is generally 25 to 50 people, and the atmosphere is informal, informative, and fun. Anyone who interrupts the speaker is reminded of the college's long-standing academic policy of listening to only "One Fool at a Time."
In general speakers should advance a particular point of view, regardless of how controversal that might be. Presentations in the past have concerned such topics as the "Great Hoaxes of History," "Immigration - Open the Doors!!!" - "The Human Condition - Do We Really Want to Know?" and "Why I Neither Confirm Nor Deny Anything." Speakers are invited to have dinner with our compliments. The college is operated on a strictly volunteer basis, and maintains no membership. All meetings are open to the public.
Arrangements can be made through the Program Coordinator, Charles Paidock, at (312) 842-5036, (312) 714-7790 cell, or cpaidock@hotmail.com
From Bugouse Square to the Beat Generation:
Selected Ravings of Slim Brundage
Charles H. Kerr Publishing Compnay
"The legendary forum for free-thinkers and iconoclasts" Chicago Tribune
"the entire spectrum of ideas. .to the very far out"
Lerner Newspapers
"always ahead of its time, or completely out of step with it" Chicago Reader
"People who have strong opinion on every topic under the sun,
or beyond it" Chicago Sun-Times
"the topics are guaranteed to encourage sprited discussion" Hyde Park Herald
