Open Call to Anybody Losing Money on the Eclectic House Hosting Restriction

This post is a call for information about anybody who is losing student group money due to contracting issues and the Eclectic House Hosting Restriction.

There has been a severe lack of balanced information regarding this whole controversy; the only public statements are being issued by members of the Eclectic society, while the SJB are most likely bound by confidentiality restrictions and are thus unable to respond to Eclectic's accusations. While I don't want to call Eclectic a bunch of liars, there is evidence that Eclectic may be misrepresenting their case.

This is mostly due to a comment by Anna W on Aural Wes post Free Eclectic (and one of the few actual pieces of information from the Administration):

Here is the notice Eclectic's house manager received in his mailbox yesterday, explaining what it would mean for Eclectic to be on "disciplinary probation":

"200 High Street as a venue for performances, gatherings, parties or any events is restricted through April 30, 2009. This restriction will be lifted to allow the previously contracted event to occur at 200 High Street during accepted candidates' weekend."

We're relaying the information as it is relayed to us. More as it comes in.

The wording of this letter strongly implies that the ban is being lifted on Wesfest is due to "previous contracting," as opposed to the idea that (as Eclectic has been asserting) "selling the school to prospective students is more of a priority than maintaining a thriving student culture."

However, as I mentioned earlier, I do not want to unduly accuse anybody of intentionally misleading the student body. What's more, "strongly implies" by no means "proves" that this is the case. Still, there is enough room for doubt in the situation that it is important for the full story to be available to the students, as the House Hosting Restriction affects us all.

Thus, I am calling for anybody who has actually contracted a band to play and actually lost student group money due to the house hosting restriction to come forward and prove that the lifting of the house hosting restriction for Wesfest is a result of the administration's desire to woo admitted students, rather than uphold previously contracted agreements.

If the information does come to light, I will be the first to call the administration on its bullshit and support Eclectic against the administration's decision. However, if this doesn't happen, then we, as the student body, have reason to believe that Eclectic is intentionally distorting the facts of the situation in order to appear sympathetic. I personally hope the former is true, but we, as critically minded students, cannot blind ourselves to the possibility of the latter.

Sound Co-op cancels its events for the semester

This is its letter to the student body in full:

In light of the decisions made by Scott Backer and the SJB, and the subsequent appeal that was denied by Michael Roth (read here: wesleying.blogspot.com/2009/03/sjb-shuts-down-all-eclectic-events-for.html), I have decided that the Wesleyan Sound Cooperative will cease functioning as of Sunday March 29th until the Eclectic event-hosting ban is repealed or a satisfactory settlement is made between the school and the Society allowing for access to the venue. This means that all events currently scheduled are considered canceled until further notice. Shows this week (23rd – 28th) will still be happening, as there is obviously not enough time for organizers to plan around the shutdown. If you currently have a show planned later than this week, you will or already have received an email from a WSC member. Please do not contact me or any other co-op members regarding this decision, as there will be no special exceptions made and no questions to be answered except, ‘has the school overturned the decision?’ As soon as the answer to this question is ‘yes,’ the cooperative will run again as usual. We are still taking event requests on our website (wesleyan.edu/wsa/wsc) in the hopes that this situation is resolved quickly. If you are disappointed or concerned by the turn of events, I ask that you politely email either Scott Backer (sbacker01@wes) or Michael Roth (mroth@wes) to explain how the shutdown affects you and ask that they reconsider their actions so that an amplified and vibrant campus culture may continue at Wesleyan.

Members of the Eclectic Society founded the sound cooperative almost 20 years ago in order to facilitate musical events that would otherwise be impossible to fund using professional audio companies. The co-op allows anyone who is interested the opportunity to learn life long skills in technical audio production and event planning. As a result of its creation, and in spite of the fact that to this day Wesleyan refuses to create a viable administration-organized free event space, the Sound Co-op saves Wesleyan students somewhere on the order of $30,000 - 60,000 a year in professional audio service fees. This allows for many more events to be funded, which in turn means that the co-op runs slightly over one hundred shows every year. By this count, I have organized sound for over 300 shows during my time here at Wesleyan and am fortunate to have many talented people transitioning into control as I will be graduating this semester. The co-op has expanded during my tenure to include many events not related to live music, which I see as a great development.

Unfortunately, the decision rendered by Scott Backer and the SJB aims to discriminate between where and what type of event is allowable on campus, thus dictating the realms of campus culture. I personally find this detestable and am of the opinion that the full ramifications of the punishment levied have not been thoroughly considered. The shutdown of the co-op aims to help rectify this oversight.

I am basing my decision around the argument that if the Wesleyan administration wants to define campus culture and what is or is not allowable based on how ‘problematic’ or how much of a ‘liability’ they perceive an event to be for them then it is folly to have a student-run and student-funded business continue to facilitate a culture we ourselves are not in control of. The ethos of the co-op is one of absolute indiscrimination, as long as we have the equipment and someone signs up to work, we will work an event. Despite the fact that the shutdown will result in lost wages for co-op workers including myself, I feel that this is the only acceptably principled response to an unprincipled and poorly considered punishment.

Historically, the administration has been happy to allow students to organize and pay for their own shows and events because student-run and student-funded events increase Wesleyan’s social capital at essentially no cost to the school. Utilizing the WSA, SBC, and SALD for assistance allows for an incredible number of student-run events to take place every week. However, with the Eclectic shutdown, the administration is asserting that they do indeed have a say in how student funds are to be distributed and thus what events may or may not take place on campus. Eclectic is the only free student-run venue on campus that has a seating capacity of over 100. Therefore, unless the SBC has the funds to pay for pro audio services at other venues, I will consider the school to be the party responsible for funding and organizing sound services for student events. I do not report to any school administrator, I help run a club funded by the SBC in order to make campus life more exciting and vibrant. The co-op works in direct service to the student body but will not be coerced into accepting fluxuating social ethics determined ad hoc by the administration.

I’m sure you can surmise that the school has neither the resources nor the desire to take up the slack left over by the co-op (except perhaps regarding WesFest), so I will preemptively make the assertion that it is now YOUR job to organize and fund sound services for events you would like to have or plan to have on campus. Again, please understand that I am not doing this to punish the student body, but instead to force those who utilize the co-op and those that directly benefit from it’s existence to make their displeasure known to the administration. I know this decision will be incredibly unpopular but I ask that you fully reflect on the historical and ongoing relationship the co-op has to events held at Eclectic and consider this a sign of solidarity and not a dismissal of individual student groups or events. Regardless of your personal opinions concerning the Eclectic Society or the events held there, I urge you to consider that the series of decisions made by the administration are of a discriminatory nature regarding what types of events the school implicitly condones. The fact that the administration is now trying to dictate how students should spend their own money is nothing short of insulting. The more you make your displeasure known to administrators, the faster we can move on from this terrible decision and get back to having great amplified events across campus.

Sincerely,
Yale Yng-Wong ’09, President of the Wesleyan Sound Cooperative,
Amanda Contrada ‘10, Co-President of the Wesleyan Sound Cooperative, and Max Krafft '09, Ben Bernstein ‘10, Tom Brewer ‘12, Adam Gunther ‘11, Bill Kirstein ‘10, Sam Long ‘12, Mary Longley ‘10, Sam Lyons ‘12, Dana Matthiessen ‘09, Howe Pearson ‘12, Jeff Rovinelli ‘10, Fareed Sajan ‘09, and Harrison Schaaf ‘11

SJB's WesFest Exemption for Eclectic, Revealed

So probably the most contentious thing about Eclectic being banned from hosting any more events this semester is that one exception in particular was made: a concert on WesFest weekend.

From the WesFest event catalogue:

09:00 PM - 01:00 AM

Alumni Music Extravaganza ft. Francis and the Lights, Das Racist, Acrylics, and See/Saw!

This will be a dance party night to remember, featuring three successful Brooklyn-based Wesleyan alumni bands and one current student band. Not to be missed for fans of MGMT!

Location: Eclectic House (200 High St), Ballroom

DIRECTLY REFERENCES MGMT.

Come, prefrosh! Look at our music scene! JUST KIDDING.

Well, it's incredibly convenient that the only show escaping the effective shutting down of Wesleyan's student music scene falls during WesFest and is only the most prominent example of said music scene this semester.

And the fact that this is the one event they're letting slide undermines the stated rationale for banning events in the first place: because of a noise complaint. All this talk about the event that's being exempt from the Eclectic shut-down... what is it? A talk, an academic lecture, a convention? IT'S A SHOW. A Wes alum band showcase. THAT WILL BE NOISY.

I'm really looking forward to hearing the Student Judicial Board's rationale behind this in detail, when/if it becomes available. We've heard Eclectic's side of the story, but it's necessary to get a more complete picture of why the punishment seems so much implausibly harsher than the crime as it's been described so far.

But from the way it looks now, it just seems that there was a remarkable lack of foresight in the making of this decision. More info as it comes in.

Petition to Overturn Eclectic Hosting Ban

An online petition to lift the ban on social events at Eclectic is up. Here's what you're signing for:

The Eclectic Society has recently been informed by Scott Backer and the Student Judicial Board that all events, lectures, gatherings, and shows taking place at 200 High St. this semester – including those already scheduled – must be canceled due to a “House Hosting Restriction.” Backer and the SJB have made one exception: WesFest weekend. We feel that in eliminating Eclectic as a campus-wide venue, these restrictions threaten to eliminate an integral campus space necessary to foster the creative and intellectual energy upon which Wesleyan prides itself. We will be appealing this mandate this week and hope that wide student support will help the case.

In signing this petition I declare my support for the Eclectic Society’s efforts to overturn the House Hosting Restriction in order to maintain all previously-scheduled events for the duration of the semester.

If you're somehow resentful of Eclectic, be clear about the distinction between your sense of schadenfreude and the seriously negative impact this ban will have on life at Wesleyan. Shutting down all events taking place at Eclectic for the rest of the semester doesn't just punish Eclectic members, it punishes the campus as a whole.

Eclectic is unmatched as a consistent venue for events at Wesleyan, and you've got to understand the benefits of having it available as a public space for students even if you don't personally attend these events .

And if you do appreciate live music, just look at this sad, sad list of events from Aural Wes and note how many are potentially no longer happening:

UPCOMING EVENTS

march 4: buru style & special guest (public)

march 5: noms, decora, sewing machines, tall tales (eclectic) CANCELLED

march 5: chris white, stephanie nilles, captain coconut (earth house)

march 25: cassorla, dear lamp (earth house)

march 26: pink reason, hue blanc's joyless ones (eclectic)CANCELLED

march 26: dar williams

march 27: ryan leslie (eclectic)CANCELLED

march 28: kentucky fried doom, sourvein, ehnahre, relics (eclectic)CANCELLED

march 28: raina rose, rebecca loebe (earth house)

april 3: buru style, barefoot junction, banish the rabbit (psi u)

april 3: big tree, shai erlichman, tall tales (eclectic)CANCELLED

april 4: pissed jeans, drunkdriver (eclectic)CANCELLED

april 10: previously on lost (eclectic)CANCELLED

april 11: art show with musical guests adam gunther, zully adler, celia hollander (eclectic)CANCELLED

april 16: das racist, francis & the lights, acrylics, tall tales (eclectic)CANCELLED - oops, this one will still happen!

april 23: battle of the bands (eclectic)CANCELLED

april 24: ponytail, miracles of modern science (eclectic)CANCELLED

april 30: mice parade (eclectic)CANCELLED

may 1: japanther, ninjasonik, grocery thief, michael jordan (eclectic)

& more! (send us your shows)

The SJB should really consider other ways of sanctioning those students responsible for the infractions that led to this restriction, which aren't detrimental to the greater student body.

Read Aural Wes editor Anna Wiener '09's impassioned plea to students here. Paper petitions will be distributed all week during meal times at Usdan, but be sure to sign the online one as well.

Judging by the interest expressed by readers in the previous post, we will easily get 1,000 signatures over the next few days.

Online petition to lift the ban on social events at Eclectic.