The annual Ohio University Sibs' Weekend concert, a decade-long tradition, will not be held this year due to scheduling confusion between the administration and the Black Student Cultural Programming Board (BSCPB).
The administration set the Sibs' celebration on the same date that an opera was scheduled at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium, the BSCPB's usual concert venue, according to BSCPB concert coordinator Candice Brooks.
Brooks said she felt that the BSCPB's intention to present its annual concert was communicated to administrators well in advance, but she is not handing out blame.
I never stated that anyone was at fault
Brooks said. The blame doesn't lie on any particular person.
The performing arts calendar, through the Office of Public Occasions, is set the preceding year to book acts and shows with plenty of notice. The athletic calendar is determined next to coordinate games with other schools and with the media, but games and matches are always subject to change up to two weeks before the event.
The administration then votes on dates for family weekends at OU and these are released Sept. 1. This year Sibs' Weekend will be Jan. 29 to Feb. 1.
Merle Graybill, associate dean of students, said that the process of choosing OU calendar dates will change, and she understands why the BSCPB students feel neglected by administrators.
She said the process of selecting dates is not clear-cut. It may seem that it's all decided by one group of people sitting together and thinking of everything there is to think of she said. There's no board. The decision is made within student affairs; the dean of students brings in information from different sources and asks for feedback from the divisions of various departments and then decides on dates. There's no set-in-stone policy on what the criteria is or what the timing is.
Brooks said she began contacting the BSCPB's agent in early August to begin planning for the concert. However, the first day of class, Brooks was contacted by Linda Daniels and Lisa Patterson, the director and assistant director of multicultural programs.
Daniels and Patterson informed Brooks about the opera scheduled in the auditorium on Sibs' Weekend and said it could not be rescheduled. Brooks then contacted the Dean of Students office to see if the Sibs' Weekend date could be changed.
Graybill suggested that the dates for Dads' and Sibs' Weekends be switched, but a conference planned in Athens on the current Sibs' Weekend has booked 150 hotel rooms in the area, leaving no accommodations for fathers if the weekend changed.
Brooks looked at other venues for the concert, including the Convocation Center, the Ping tennis courts and Peden Stadium. All possible alternatives are completely and utterly exhausted
she said.
She said the best option, the Convocation Center, is impossible to get because of wrestling matches and a basketball game scheduled for Sibs' Weekend.
Brooks and other BSCPB members made a presentation to Student Senate on Sept. 24 to lobby for support. In her speech, Brooks voiced concerns that holding the concert on other weekends would attract smaller audiences.
The decision by the board clearly shows the priority level given to BSCPB and what sort of climate there is on OU's campus for minority students
Brooks said in her presentation to Student Senate. The message - whether desired or not - is that minority students and their activities do not matter
and they are expendable in place of more profitable activities like athletics.
She also expressed doubts that the administration had no knowledge of the BSCPB's intention to present a concert, because nearly 60 percent of the organization's SAC funding is set aside for the annual show.
We're as disappointed as they are
Graybill said, referring to the BSCPB. We realize the process has to change. We will be taking the BSCPB concert into consideration in programming.
Past concerts presented by the BSCPB include OutKast, Common and Busta Rhymes. The shows have sold out the past two years and average around 1,500 spectators.
The BSCPB currently is planning the concert and considering several options.
One possibility is scheduling a weekend of hip-hop events in February to coincide with Black History Month, but Brooks said dates are still questionable.
Two other options are holding the concert on Black Alumni Reunion Weekend in late May, which would cater to a slightly older audience, or co-sponsoring a show with the University Program Council and the International Student Union this spring.
The BSCPB is considering about 11 artists for the concert, including Mary J. Blige, Sean Paul and Alicia Keys. In the meantime, the group continues to seek an explanation for why its interests were not addressed.
Through our efforts right now
such as meeting with the administration
we are addressing things for next year now
Brooks said. It's the only effective way to handle it.
Graybill said one idea is to have dates for family weekends fixed each year. For example, Sibs' Weekend would always be the last weekend in January.
Our goal is to identify dates far enough in advance so the BSCPB and everyone else can make the plans they need to make
Graybill said.
Patterson, adviser of BSCPB, said she hopes the administration will consult the BSCPB and include it in the process of selecting family weekend dates.
Brooks said the situation affects all of OU and not just the BSCPB. All the student support showed the university how important this is
