The reason for low attendance to the weekly screenings of Indie films at the Mary Riepma Ross, a small theater on campus, has been a mystery–until now. The DailyER staff has taken to the case with investigative skills rivaling Tintin’s. We have determined through numerous interviews (3) and extensive data collection (a Twitter poll) that students stray from the Ross because they think it is named after Ross Geller from the sitcom Friends. 

Freshman Kelly Oggs told us, “Ross is such a jealous loser with a hard-on for dinosaurs. I can’t support that!” 

Students seem to think that the theater was made in honor of the character despite the unrelated films and events they host. People hear “The Ross” and immediately abandon all chance of going to the documentary their teacher is giving extra credit for seeing. According to the results of our Twitter poll, our followers would much rather the theater called “The Chandler.” The second-place answer was “The Phoebe” with “The Rachel” and “The Joey” trailing. Then came “The Monica,” “The Gunther,” and finally, “The Ross.” 

“I think the theater pretty much guaranteed their own unpopularity when they chose Ross to represent their brand,” said senior Reece Spuffs. He continued, “Who wants to watch footage of just Ross crying?” 

Film Studies major and student worker at the Ross, Ray Sinbrann, is here to set the record straight. He told the DailyER, “‘The Ross” is just a nickname! Just like how ‘The Sheldon’ is just a nickname. Would you go to an art museum with just photos of Jim Parsons in superhero shirts and a bad haircut? I don’t think so.” 

You heard it here first, folks. The Ross is NOT named after Ross from Friends. Now go get that extra credit and stop skipping your Nebraska Arts class.