The two previous concerts held at The Convo by Ohio University have featured headlining artists with rap influences, sparking student complaints about the lack of musical diversity.
During the 2011-12 school year, Wiz Khalifa performed with Sean Kingston and the year before, B.o.B headlined the school-sponsored spring concert with Far East Movement.
“I think with our diverse population at Ohio University, there should also be a diverse range in music genres played at these events,” said Andrew Lyons, a freshman studying interior architecture.
However, Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of the Campus Involvement Center, disagrees that there has been a lack of diverse music genres.
In 2004, Michelle Branch and Jason Mraz performed at The Convo, Holzaepfel added.
Diversifying the concerts by looking at both the main act and the opening artist might be more difficult, depending on students’ requests, said Brian Heilmeier, coordinator for campus programs at the involvement center.
“The main act might have a preference on who they want to open the concert or have concerns about the sounds being completely different,” Heilmeier said.
Though there is a concern about not selling enough tickets for another hip-hop concert, Jared Henderson, Academic Affairs commissioner for Student Senate, said he believes there needs to be a way to appeal to a wider audience.
“Not all students are going to want to go see a hip-hop artist,” Henderson said. “If we could somehow find a way to get the openers to be a different genre, more students would get interested in coming to a concert.”
Each fall, the involvement center and Student Senate survey students for artist suggestions. Final surveys will be emailed out to students via a link within the next three weeks, Heilmeier said.
“We go from the No. 1 suggested artist and work our way down,” he said.
There is no intentional focus on a specific music genre, Heilmeier added.
“We consider anything, and we make lists of which music artist has been mentioned the most on the surveys,” he said. “All of our decisions are based off of which artists receives the most votes.
The involvement center received feedback from about 1,500 students in the 2011 survey that brought B.o.B and Far East Movement to campus.
In terms of diversity in music genres and artists, there is no exclusion of any type, and the university is open to any ideas that students may suggest, said Ryan Lombardi, interim vice president for Student Affairs.
“I know I joked about Kanye (West),” Lombardi said. “I am more interested in making sure that the artist is something that will resonate and be well-liked by our students."
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