Chuck Swanson, longtime executive director of Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa, has announced his upcoming retirement.

In a heart-festooned shirt, with red paper hearts adorning the wall behind him, Hancher Auditorium executive director Chuck Swanson announced his retirement to members of the Hancher Partners program via a Valentine’s-themed video emailed out early Tuesday morning.

True to his mantra of putting people first, Chuck Swanson, executive director of Hancher Auditorium since 2002, announced his retirement Tuesday first to his staff, then to Hancher partners and donors.

After almost two decades acting as Hancher Auditorium’s executive director, Chuck Swanson is retiring from the position. In an email sent the morning of Feb. 1, Swanson addressed Hancher Partners members in a video message and announced his retirement plans so far.

Based on the Oscar-winning film of the same name, An Officer and a Gentleman is filled with classic 80s hits as it explores a young man’s journey when he enters the U.S. Navy’s Officer Training School. The show played a singular performance at Hancher Auditorium on Jan.

This February, in conjunction with the University of Iowa’s 175th anniversary, the Presidential Lecture Series will feature presentations from three distinguished UI faculty members—Craig Kletzing, Christopher Merrill, and Patricia Winokur.

The University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium and IIHR—Hydroscience and Engineering (IIHR) as well as the City of Iowa City are canceling The Big Splash!, a two-day festival described as “a free outdoor extravaganza of music, dance, circus arts, and spectacle.”

After being postponed nearly two years, Hancher’s outdoor festival “The Big Splash!” has been canceled because of “uncertainty and repercussions” caused by the pandemic.

We hope the University of Iowa will revisit and reverse its decision to remove all funding for Hancher Auditorium (Iowa City Press Citizen Aug. 12).

We hope the University of Iowa will revisit and reverse its decision to eliminate all general education funding from Hancher Auditorium. (The Gazette July 10).