To the Editor:
In light of recent controversy, the Editorial Page Board encouraged the Brown student body to “enjoy Spring Weekend” and suggested measures to “reduce the misunderstanding over the concert’s purpose.”
I fundamentally disagree with this perspective. Rather than accepting the concert as it is, we should work together to make Spring Weekend better.
I’m all about realistic solutions and know that Brown Concert Agency can’t go away — nor should it. That being said, I believe there’s a space for BCA to be reformed — which is why I am proposing two feasible solutions to reimagine how we select artists for Spring Weekend.
The first option is for BCA to create a list of potential artists and have students vote on them. This would work by BCA talking to the prospective artists’ management to see who is available given time and budget constraints, and then sharing those names for a popular vote.
However, this strategy assumes that artists would accept waiting for confirmation from BCA as to whether they would actually be booked. The second option is to hold an annual vote for BCA representatives at the same time that the Class Coordinating Board, Undergraduate Finance Board and Undergraduate Council of Students representatives are elected. The election process would increase the transparency of BCA by making the selection of its members more democratic. This option would also hopefully increase the turnout for student government elections, which was an alarmingly low 21% this year.
Both of these options would allow the entire student body to exercise more influence over the lineup selection and relieve some of the pressure on BCA. Despite a reduced budget of $300,000, we can surely still get artists that a majority of students will enjoy.
Let’s end the secrecy behind BCA, work together as a school to bring artists we all know and love to campus, and make Spring Weekend better for future years.
Danny Greenberg ’25
