Acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee canceled his scheduled Sunday appearance, sighting a personal emergency, but administrators said the visit may be rescheduled.

"It was an emergency, it couldn't be avoided. He will reschedule, just give him another date," said Earl Smith of Lee's production company Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks. Smith would not elaborate on the details of Lee's emergency but said all Lee's weekend engagements were interrupted.

"Needless to say I'm sad about it, but if it couldn't be helped, it couldn't be helped," said Elizabeth Walker, president of the University's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Any financial loss incurred by the NAACP could not yet be determined, Walker said.

Lee and the University will work toward rescheduling the speech, said Aaron Singleton, a spokesman for the University's office of public information.

"(Lee) really wants to come here. I know they're going to work really hard to reschedule," he said.

"We're looking into the possibility of rescheduling, but we don't know for sure if that's possible," said Grace Hampton, University vice provost, and consulting adviser for the NAACP.

Lee was also to be presented an award at the NAACP's annual banquet. The banquet will still take place, Hampton said. Other guest speakers are being considered.

"We're going on with the dinner as planned. We have contacted several possibilities, at least two or three people are willing to speak for us," Hampton said.

The Graduate Student Association had planned to show Lee's film Do the Right Thing to celebrate the filmmaker's visit, said Curtis Bayer, GSA film coordinator. The film will still be shown and Bayer said it is probably more potent than Lee's words could be, and should be viewed by all.

Plans for the Eisenhower Auditorium presentation were already in motion, said Operations Manager for the Center for the Performing Arts Dave Will. Seven hundred tickets had already been distributed. But if a new appearance date is agreed upon, those tickets will be honored, Will said.

"We were already pacing out tickets. We had a lot of support services that had to be informed. I think most of the things we have in action will be stopped at this time," he said.

Will added that the center runs a tight schedule during the rest of the semester and rescheduling a performance may be difficult.