Ishmael Beah's Oct. 24 speech at Alumni Arena as a part of the Distinguished Speaker series will mark yet another unfortunate situation; like many events planned for the fall semester, students who have classes scheduled at the same time cannot attend.
Tonight marks the third major event that excludes students who are enrolled in night classes. Previous events making the same exclusion include the Oct. 8 Gym Class Heroes concert and the Adult Circus, held Oct. 23 in the Student Union Theater.
According to Peter Grollitsch, president of the Student Association, the Gym Class Heroes were booked on a Monday night to reduce the cost of bringing the group to UB. Originally considered for a weekend concert, SA was able to cut the cost of hosting the concert from about $40,000 down to $30,000.
"We try to make events on the weekends when we can," Grollitsch said. "We try not to have our largest and most popular events when classes are in session."
The Gym Class Heroes concert was only one example of SA's difficulty with accommodating everyone. The Adult Circus was also booked during the week because of issues with scheduling, as well as the costs of bringing different shows to campus.
"With the Gym Class Heroes it was either on a Monday night or they don't come, period," Grollitsch said.
SA has been trying to bring the Gym Class Heroes to UB since last year, according to Grollitsch. Other events, like the Adult Circus, are expected to be as popular this year as they been very popular in the past. Thousands are expected to hear Ishmael Beah's lecture.
The Gym Class Heroes were considered in the spring and fall as a part of their tour, Grollitsch said. The Heroes rejected SA's original offer, but then the band returned with a lower cost for the show on a Monday night. Other acts, such as Ishmael Beah's lecture, are scheduled around the day the speaker or act can attend because of the difficulty of bringing such notable speakers to UB.
"Because of the student interest, we still want these things to happen because there are a lot of students who want to see these events and can attend," Grollitsch said.
Students like Sarah Olivet, a freshman business major, believe that while saving on the costs of concerts is beneficial, events that exclude some students should be moved to weekend nights.
"It's kind of worth it, but it depends what (SA) spent all of the extra money on," Olivet said.
Both the Gym Class Heroes and the Adult Circus sold out of student tickets prior to the performance. Packed audiences like these should be motivation enough for SA to reconsider when these events are planned for, according to Olakunle Ola, a junior accounting major.
"I couldn't go to some of this stuff like the Gym Class Heroes because I needed time to study," Ola said. "Everyone needs to have the time to do their homework."
There are many events that are all-inclusive for students and scheduled outside of normal class hours, Grollitsch said. During Spirit Week, hosted in early October, there were many events planned throughout the week so that more students could participate, he said. The Comedy Series was also scheduled on weekend dates.
"It's hard with 18,000 students to fit events into everyone's schedule, but we try to do something for everyone," Grollitsch said. "I apologize that it happened like that, I sincerely wish that more students could have come."
Still, many students have voiced their complaints about having to choose between activities sponsored by their student dollars or academia.
"Having things on weekdays is not fair for people who have classes," Ola said. "It's really not fair to leave people out, especially people who are going to be in class or doing homework instead."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
