Council Eyes Fall AIDS Benefit Concert

Nine days after the Busta Rhymes concert, the Undergraduate Council last night authorized the Harvard Concert Commission (HCC) to begin preliminary planning for a 30,000-person AIDS benefit concert in the Stadium next fall.

Council members also had a question-and-answer session last night with University President Lawrence H. Summers.

During the concert discussions, such artists as the Dave Matthews Band, U2 and Alicia Keys were mentioned by HCC Chair Justin H. Haan ’05 as potential performers.

“We’re talking bigger than Busta [Rhymes]—very big name acts,” Haan said.

Haan, who is also a Crimson editor, said that the artists’ availability on the proposed dates—Sept. 25 or Oct. 2—will determine who winds up performing. He said that the HCC is working with Artists Against AIDS, a non-profit organization, to help secure an artist.

“Because it is an AIDS concert, there is no real bidding process,” Haan said. “We have to see who is available.”

By a vote of 33-1, the council approved lending $20,000 to the HCC for marketing and advertising costs. Council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05 said the concert will raise more than enough money to pay back the loan because the event would be open to the wider community.

“We would not be pursuing a concert in the Stadium if it were only open to undergraduates,” Mahan said. “We would absolutely not be pursuing this if it weren’t going to sell out.”

Some council members questioned whether the dates would interfere with other local events such as Evening With Champions and Head of the Charles, but Mahan said the council leadership and the HCC would work with other on-campus organizations that have events scheduled in late September and early October.

Summers also visited the meeting and answered questions from members on a variety of topics ranging from the Administrative Board to the president’s favorite eateries.

J. Sawalla Guseh ’06 asked Summers about his feelings regarding student representation on the Ad Board. Summers replied that he is open to both sides of the issue—but said he wanted to make sure students who were pushing for the change also considered the downside.

“I’m not altogether sure that if I were a student I’d want to be on the Ad Board,” Summers said. “I know from my own life...and from other kinds of situations that people usually run for the hills with these kinds of tasks.”

“I wonder if you wouldn’t all be better off with a position that emphasized policy issues on the Ad Board,” rather than case-by-case involvement, Summers said.

Wesley H. Kauble ’05 asked Summers a more lighthearted question—where he likes to eat.

“Noch’s for one kind of food and Upstairs on the Square for another kind of experience,” Summers said. “And now that Bartley’s has a Larry Summers burger...”

After Summers’ visit, the council heard from students who attended the Ivy Council conference two weekends ago. All four of the students who attended recommended that the council rejoin the organization. The Ivy Council is composed of student representatives from all of the Ivy League schools except Harvard. It is meant to be a forum for student governments to pool ideas on solving problems at their institutions.

Harvard first left the Ivy Council in 2001, citing the Ivy Council’s fiscal and organizational mismanagement. Harvard’s council will vote next week on whether to rejoin, after the issue is discussed in the council’s Student Affairs Committee.

Council members also voted 30-8, with one abstention, to accept Harvard Student Agencies’ (HSA) bid to be the council’s “official ring vendor,” and to sponsor the council’s movie nights next year. Council Vice President Michael R. Blickstead ’05, who led the ring negotiations, said that HSA’s bid—$6,500, with an additional $15 for each ring after the first 300—will likely be more lucrative for the council than The Coop’s bid of $6,800.

In other business, the council approved its final grants package of the year, which included over $4,900 in funding.

The Constitutional Revision Committee also presented proposals for amendments to the council’s constitution. The proposed changes will be debated and voted on at next week’s meeting.

—Staff writer Jeffrey C. Aguero can be reached at aguero@fas.harvard.edu.