By RAY SMITH ([email protected])
Something big is coming to Allegheny College.
On Nov. 16, the Major Events Committee (MEC), comprised of members of the Allegheny Student Government (ASG) and Gator Activities Programming (GAP) sent out an e-mail asking for student opinions on who they would like to see in Meadville this year. The choices for students were Brand New, Colbie Caillat with Howie Day, Dashboard Confessional, GirlTalk, Jack’s Mannequin, Kellie Pickler, Lupe Fiasco, O.A.R, Pitbull, Sara Bareilles, Sean Kingston, Taking Back Sunday and Third Eye Blind. Voting ended on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at midnight.
The MEC was created to foster a more collaborative process in planning large events on campus. Last year, ASG and GAP suffered from miscommunications during the planning for a large act on campus. As a result, the groups split their funding and each looked to hire their own big act.
Brett Fuchs, ’10, is the president of ASG.
“Both groups [GAP and ASG] came up with how much money we are able to spend,” Fuchs said. “Based on that, using a middle agent, we got a list of people we can use based on availability and prices.”
This is a simple democratic process, with some general stipulations.
“Once we know the result of the vote, we’ll send [the results] out,” Fuchs said.
“Then we’ll call the middle agent and see who is available. Even though number one was available two weeks ago doesn’t mean they’re available now. We will go by the list and try to bring the top performer from the vote.”
Students were generally happy with the choices presented by the M.E.C.
“I think that the choices for the musical groups were pretty strong this year,” said Andrew Gottlieb, ’11. “I’m a big fan of Lupe Fiasco so I voted for him.”
Another student was happy about the selections.
“I think they did a good job of getting different acts,” said Sarah Bock, ’10. “It’s not all the same type of music, which is good.”
Others may have thought the choices were a little too good.
“I think they gave us a pretty good choice this year,” said Leigh Bender, ’10. “There was a pretty wide variety of genres. I actually had a hard time picking which one I wanted to come since there were a few I really liked.”
There was one act that was missing that Allegheny planned to bring in the past.
“I would have liked to see Wiz [Khalifa] on the list,” Gottlieb said.
Students did have to make a choice by Wednesday night.
“I was excited that GirlTalk was on the list because I know people wanted him to come last year and it’s supposed to be a good concert,” Bock said. “Hopefully they bring someone good and not just someone that has one good song.”
The fact that many students had differing opinions on who to bring shows that the committee was effective in compiling a group of different bands that appeal to many people.
“I really like Dashboard, O.A.R. and Third Eye Blind,” Bender said. “But I think Sean Kingston would put on a decent concert too. I voted for Dashboard though.”
The dates and costs of the different performers all vary. Voting closed on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at midnight. The results of the poll will be released by the Major Events Committee later in the week.
