Dean Raises Doubts Over Outkast Concert

The Harvard Concert Commission (HCC) may have another hurdle to clear in its attempts to bring hip-hop group Outkast to the Bright Hockey Center for a concert it has planned for May.

In an e-mail sent yesterday to Undergraduate Council President and HCC head Sujean S. Lee ’04, Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth ’71 expressed concern about the hip-hop group’s lyrics.

Illingworth wrote that other College and athletic department administrators said they were concerned that Outkast’s “language may not be acceptable for many audiences, and also that, reportedly, Rosa Parks once sued the group.”

“These comments cause me to worry that Outkast may not be the best group for the Concert Commission to bring to campus,” he wrote.

The lawsuit Illingworth referred to was filed by the famed civil rights activist for compensation from the group for the use of her name in the title of the song “Rosa Parks,” which was not about her. The case was dismissed in November 1999.

Illingworth said yesterday that concerns are not based on Outkast being a hip-hop group but on their lyrics.

“It’s all hearsay, but I hear that they may not be the most acceptable of the bands in terms of language...but I don’t know that for sure. People have told me they’ve seen websites, I haven’t seen them myself,” Illingworth said.

“I want to make it clear I haven’t forbidden anything yet,” he continued. “I just want to hear more about them.”

Illingworth said that, while many controversial speakers come to Harvard, concerts are of more concern “because a concert is open to a lot of people.”

He added that the choice of a band for the concert is especially important because of the concerns of the athletic department—the early May event will be the first time in recent memory that a concert will be held in the Bright Hockey Center.

Some HCC members expressed concern about the contents of Illingworth’s e-mail.

HCC board member Gila D. Jones ’02 said she was worried the University was trying to take control of HCC for its own purposes.

“With this and Springfest, it’s like they are making [concerts] theirs,” Jones said. “This is a pressure on our ability to choose a band to come to campus.”

“The deans have the impression that they are kind of sponsoring the event, as if the concert has the Harvard name attached to it,” she added.

Before the HCC can bid on a band, as for the May concert and Springfest, its choice must be approved by the office of the Dean of the College.

University President Lawrence H. Summers announced in February that his office would co-sponsor Springfest this year, a pledge that raised questions about the level of influence the administration would have in choosing a band and producing the event.

“When bids are made for large amounts of money we need to approve of that in advance,” Illingworth said.

Lee estimated that Outkast will cost between $60,000 and $65,000, and an additional $30,000 in production costs.

Lee said she was not overly worried with Illingworth’s e-mail, saying she expects HCC will be able to assuage Illingworth’s concerns.

“I think overall the caution Dean Illingworth has shown has been completely justified. For a university these concerts are not a small deal,” Lee said. “When you select an artist, you don’t want an artist that is offensive or inappropriate.... The concert commission is going to assure him that Outkast is a quality performer.”

While other bands, including Guster, Jurassic 5 and the Goo Goo Dolls have been discussed as options, Lee said she is committed to bidding for and bringing Outkast to campus.

“We conducted a survey and Outkast won by a pretty large margin,” Lee said. “We understand that student sentiment is for Outkast and that is who we are really pushing for.”

—Staff writer Joseph P. Flood can be reached at flood@fas.harvard.edu.