In light of the spate of recent articles in the Orient, it is clear that many students do not trust the Entertainment Board (E-Board). When considering the importance of live entertainment for the college experience of students and the great cost of events, it is understandable that students want a voice in the decisions being made. It is also understandable that students have felt unheard in recent years.
The motivation to recreate the way entertainment decisions are made on campus is derived from these same criticisms. The concerns raised in recent articles are ones that many members of this inaugural E-Board share. Last year, the E-Board was established as a response to failures of the former Campus Activities Board.
The E-Board was designed with the philosophy that the role of a board member is to serve students. Our job is not to have an opinion but to weigh all the opinions on campus. Making the decisions about performers is certainly the most public responsibility of the board; however, those decisions make up a small percentage of the work associated with being an E-Board member. The members of the board consist of the class vice presidents and 10 to 12 additional students selected because of their dedication to the great amount of work required for months, weeks, and hours before an event in order to make it happen and ensure its success.
The music industry is so fast- paced that decisions often have to be made on an hourly basis. From one moment to the next, artist availability changes. This poses challenges to us in regards to collecting student input because once we have collected opinion data, the results may be obsolete. However, it is our responsibility to make decisions about who performs at Bowdoin based on campus opinion—we know this.
As we have been settling into these positions, the board members have discussed how best to reach and reach out to the student body. Since the last issue of the Orient, members of the board, its advisers, and the Bowdoin Student Government met several times to brainstorm the best possible ways to collect student input in a way that accommodates the fast-paced nature of the music industry.
We are hopeful that we can find a way to include all students in these decisions without sacrificing the College's agility in the process of booking artists.
Any questions about this issue of transparency or any other concerns can be directed to Christopher Omachi '12, Luke Delahanty '10, or Advisor to the E-Board Megan Brunmier '08.
Chris Omachi is a member of the Class of 2012.