Today, October 3rd 2013, at 12:37pm, students, led by the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Center For Education Policy Advocacy (CEPA) gathered outside of the Student Union for a “flash mob,” a peaceful protest of sorts, in response to the university’s recent cancelling of all Electric Dance Music (EDM) concerts, the Tobacco Ban, and the wealth of construction currently taking place on campus, and the lack of student voice in these decisions.
The informal and surprise event was hosted by a “coalition of students fighting for more student voice and student power in terms of how decisions are made at the university,” said Senior, CEPA Campus Culture Core Leader, and SGA Secretary of Diversity, Preston Davis.
“Our core focus is not necessarily the cancelling of EDM concerts, but we are using that as an initiator to get students behind this issue of a lack of student voice,” said Davis.
The “flash mob” itself lasted for about ten minutes as EDM music played over loud speakers. There were upwards of twenty people initially involved, and this group grew to include spectators, students, and even staff, many of whom ultimately joined in the dancing, creating what appeared to be a decently sized outdoor dance party.
“We wanted to have the event as close to the original Above & Beyond date as possible, which would have been tomorrow, October 4th, if the concert hadn’t been cancelled,” said Davis.
The university cancelled the Above & Beyond concert as well as the Pretty Lights concert on September 26th stating that they “were gravely concerned about a rash of MDMA, Ecstasy or Molly-related overdoses and deaths in the Northeast related to these events.”
The SGA posted a Facebook status shortly after the event thanking students for their participation:
Students were asked to sign a petition for students to have primary responsibility for services and activities which are designed primarily to serve students or those which are financed primarily by students, managing student political affairs and organizational matters, and setting standards for student behavior, conduct, and discipline.
Senior and SGA President, Zac Broughton, also turned to Facebook to reflect on the event:
Overall, the event was described as “a fun and successful way to get student’s attention and protest for student voice,” said Junior, Jasmine Sarai.
Check out the video we took at the event!