The Greek Council, Brown's umbrella organization of campus fraternities and sororities, unanimously decided Tuesday to move its annual Spring Weekend concert event, Rage on Wriston, to Friday, April 22 in response to a scheduling conflict with Passover.
Traditionally, Rage on Wriston is held on the Saturday of Spring Weekend on Upper Wriston Quad, and features music by Brown students and alums.
Holding Rage on Wriston as planned would be "disruptive and insensitive" to students celebrating Passover, said Chris Guhin '05, chair of the Greek Council.
"First of all, I want to extend my deepest regrets that all students cannot equally participate in this year's Spring Weekend events. ... It's unfair for students to have to choose between celebrating Spring Weekend with their friends or observing a holy day with their family," Guhin said.
Individual fraternities will continue to hold their own events the Saturday of Spring Weekend.
The Council's decision comes as the University and numerous campus organizations are examining scheduling alternatives that would respect the religious beliefs of members of the Brown community while preserving one of Brown's most popular campus traditions.
Guhin praised planners at the Student Activities Office, especially Ricky Gresh and Phil O'Hara, who are working to "iron out the logistics" that inevitably arise when rescheduling major campus events.
"The University is trying its best to work things out ... whether it is getting people to help out with sound (for the concert) or staffing gates," Guhin said.
When first told about the conflict, Guhin admitted those in the Greek community were not sure what to do. Given the traditions of Spring Weekend, some students expressed reluctance to begin switching events around.
"Somewhere along the line, the social chair (of the Greek Council) and I reached the conclusion that we can't have any major events on Saturday. ... The meeting (on Tuesday) was to formalize what the Greek community was going to do."
Robert Lazerow '06, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, Brown's primarily Jewish fraternity, said he was grateful to the University and the Greek Council for their hard work in accommodating students observing Passover.
"Personally, I was disappointed over the scheduling conflict ... but I am confident that the University is making the appropriate steps and am satisfied that events are being moved away from Saturday night," Lazerow said.
Though still in its planning stages, Lazerow said AEPi will hold a Seder on the Saturday of Spring Weekend in lieu of their usual cocktail party. Details of the Seder are not yet available.
Lazerow said though the scheduling conflict is unfortunate, he was happy to see the response by Brown students and administrators.
"On the whole, everyone is receptive to responding to this problem as a group and has shown respect and cultural sensitivity to those observing Passover. ... I am pleased to see this from the Greek community and the Brown community in general," Lazerow said.
Guhin notes that the traditional performance by Dave Binder, the New Hampshire folk performer who has defined Spring Weekend's wind-down, will most likely be unaffected by the conflict since it is scheduled on Sunday after sunrise.
"The date is what it is," Guhin said. "We are mostly concerned that all students, especially graduating seniors, have the best weekend possible given the circumstances."
At the same Feb. 15 meeting, the Greek Council also endorsed the UCS proposal to remove the campus ban on kegs.
