Jean Is On

A year ago, thousands of Harvard students and Cambridge-area residents jumped at the chance to see an aging rock star grace the stage in the Gordon Track and Field Center. Legendary musician Bob Dylan, in all of his antiquated glory, drew an admirable crowd of students last fall at a campus that is often openly stubborn to embrace community events. This fall, we believe that the Harvard Concert Commission (HCC) and the Undergraduate Council (UC) will top last year’s success, as they announced Monday that the reemerging Wyclef Jean is to headline this November’s fall concert.

Campus-wide concerts have been conspicuously hit-or-miss over the past few years. Constrained by budgets, weather, time-tables, security issues, and numerous other complications, we have witnessed a spotty success rate of large-scale shows, making many students suspicious of every new UC concert choice. Most notoriously, last year’s failed attempts to bring Snoop Dogg—efforts that lost thousands of the UC’s budget—left the student body smugly curious as to the competence of the Council, one that was handling a recently increased budget thanks to the term bill fee hike. More importantly, it left undergrads without a major spring concert. But we are confident that the HCC has it right this year. In light of this summer’s announcement that the Fugees—comprised of Wyclef, Pras, and Lauryn Hill—have reunited, Wyclef will certainly stir significant interest.

And, from the looks of things, students’ interest is already piqued. During the first hour of ticket sales, which began at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, 612 tickets were sold ($16 for students, $23 for non-affiliates) from the Harvard Box Office. Considerable buzz about the performance seems to be percolating campus, so, if all continues to go well, Wyclef will have been a solid investment for the Council’s bottom-line—and a considerable investment in building student confidence.

However, we still have concerns regarding the allocation of UC funding—which earmarks a portion of its yearly budget to be used at the discretion of the HCC—and the somewhat hasty arrangements that went into the planning for Wyclef.

The HCC was assembled only this past August, leaving a remarkably short timespan for the new members to get into the logistics of securing a big-name act. We are aware that student representatives and leaders began ruminating on the numerous possibilities for the fall concert in April. The UC did hold several “emergency sessions” to help streamline the process. But allowing for such a small maneuverability period once school started—that is, the period in which the HCC could submit actual bids on performers and negotiate contracts—seems to work against assuring success.

Nevertheless, this process can easily be improved. Last spring, the UC passed a bill that allowed for the allocation of future funds with the intention of allowing for more time for serious negotiations. It is understandable that this legislation came so late as to not allow for a significant change in this semester’s concert planning, but the UC has yet to allocate funds for this spring’s concert—something that they should do as soon as possible so that the HCC can get moving now. That they were able to secure a good act this time around might only be a consequence of good luck and experienced leadership.

Moreover, we hope that more money is allocated for the initial concert outlay. The current HCC had $30,000 to work with. While we understand that the UC is beholden to the needs of student groups—currently 67 percent is set aside for funding—if the council were to cut back on pursuing more medium-sized social events, like last year’s failed Havana on the Harbor and the Springfest After Party, it could parlay that money into an even bigger concert performance.

Of the countless campaigns taken on by the UC every year, little else—if anything—garners as much student scrutiny as when the council comes forth with an idea for campus-wide entertainment. But it is these types of events that make or break the organization’s reputation and thus affects its credibility. We are excited by the prospect of Wyclef; and we hope that the success of his performance marks the beginning of many more.