Senate says no to concert

After two “vote verifications” and hours of heated debate and discussion, the Student Government senate voted Tuesday night against allocating $30,000 toward a concert being organized by the Greek Week Committee. The final tally came to 16 yeas, 17 nays and 3 abstentions.

A mix of computer difficulties and human error caused the senate to check the results twice, initiating a total of three vote castings on the issue. The monetary allocation was not approved after the first vote count, then was passed after the first “verification” and was ultimately not approved upon the second “verification.”

The money would have been specifically earmarked for booking a nationally known band for a concert to be held on March 22, the Wednesday night of Greek Week.

“We’re just going to have to come up with a different event,” Greek Week Executive Director Adria LaCava said.

The issues that senators had with the concert centered mostly on the location of the concert, the organization of the concert and the “Greekness” of the concert.

Most of the debate over allocating the funds centered on the money going toward an event being organized by the Greek Week Committee. Many senators referred to the $30,000 as going toward a “Greek” event throughout the debate, despite the arguments of many senators and people involved with the concert that it was in fact not a “Greek” event. If the money had been approved, the concert would have been located in Greek Village but would have been free to all students.

Other concerns brought up at the senate meeting ranged from how well planned the concert was to safety and marketing issues.

According to LaCava, the committee may approach Student Affairs for the funds to bring a nationally known band to campus. SA has already pledged up to $3,000 for the event, but that money was specifically approved for only things such as sound and lighting.Greek Week Committee member Jessica Asuncion said the committee would also probably go back to the senate for money.

LaCava said the vote was disappointing, but that the committee would still hold an event at the time the concert was originally planned.Student body President Maxon Victor, who was a large proponent of the concert being funded, was livid at the results.

“The senate needs to evaluate whether or not they have personal interests in mind or interests for the student body,” Victor said. “If they had the interest of the student body in mind they would have supported this. I felt overall this was a shameful display of Student Government leadership.”Local bands will most likely play instead of a nationally recognized headliner.

Other things that will still be going on that day might include a dunk tank and or a pie-throwing booth possibly with high-ranking university officials.