Brigid Cooley
Editor-in-Chief
Texas A&M University-San Antonio will host “Gridiron 2019: Enemies of the State” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 in the campus auditorium.
The annual production features San Antonio journalists, media professionals and other volunteer performers who spoof local, state and national news in skits à la “Saturday Night Live.”
Gridiron raises money for journalism scholarships for regional college and university students. It is sponsored by the San Antonio Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Nora Lopez, one of Gridiron’s show producers and metro editor at the San Antonio Express-News, said Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro will be among the public figures in attendance.
“Well, we don’t like to give things away, but I will say that we’re pleased to have presidential candidate and former mayor of San Antonio Julian Castro, who will be making a guest appearance on stage,” said Lopez.
Student tickets are $30 and general admission tickets are $50. Tickets are available at https://localculturetickets.com/events/97027661/spjsa-gridiron-2019.
Those who cannot make it to the official event can attend the Gridiron dress rehearsal at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11 in the campus auditorium. Tickets are $10 for students and $30 for general admission.
“Gridiron is a theatrical production, sort of a musical comedy,” said Michael Drudge, president of the San Antonio Pro Chapter of SPJ. “It’s full of skits and songs that spoof the news and newsmakers and it is a long tradition that we’ve had in San Antonio.”
Drudge said Gridiron is a great way to introduce San Antonians to the role of journalists in the community.
“We wanted to give a notion that journalists are watchdogs for the citizenry of our country regarding governments and how governments operate,” Drudge said. “We can go and attend all these meetings and keep track of what’s going on to make sure that the people running our city, state and local governments are doing their job correctly.”
Hosting the event on campus gives students a unique learning opportunity, said Jenny Moore, A&M-San Antonio director of student media.
“The benefit to the campus is that students in the program get to volunteer, network and help out with a really pretty large-scale production,” Moore said. “It helps them meet people in the community and understand what a scholarship event can mean to students who are in need of financial assistance for future years during their undergraduate years at A&M.”
Armando Villarreal III contributed to this story. He is a supporting cast member with Gridiron 2019 and vice president of the student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
