The debate is on at Virginia Commonwealth University, with students and administrators disagreeing over the booking of the Sex Workers' Art Show into a university auditorium.

The show's tour schedule initially included a Tuesday stop at VCU's Grace E. Harris Hall, but instead it will play tonight at the Gay Community Center at Diversity Thrift.

Jeremy Kidd, a first-year VCU medical student, says he had permission to book the show into auditorium at the School of Business.

"On Dec. 1, we received approval to use the School of Business auditorium," Kidd said during a noon press conference today on the plaza outside VCU's Student Commons. "Out of the blue in January, a VCU administrator terminated the reservation, citing a previously unheard-of policy that claimed students could not reserve this space, despite the fact that students have held events here before."

Kidd said he was told he didn't follow proper procedure. "In good faith, we tried to reserve that space through the approved channels, but our requests were again denied," he said.

VCU administrators disagree.

"There was never a contract for them to perform," VCU spokeswoman Pam Lepley said yesterday. "No student group was following through on an effort to have them here."

Amid much buzz, the College of William and Mary on Monday hosted Monday the Sex Workers' Art Show, which features people who have worked in the sex industry.

For more on tonight's performance, see tomorrow's Times-Dispatch.