Who’s Having More Fun? comparing student events at New York colleges

Big Gigantic performing at Columbia Spring Concert 2012
(columbiaspectator.com)

On Saturday afternoon, beneath a scorching sun, a few thousand-college students crowded the steps of Columbia University’s main campus in Harlem.  At the bottom of the steps, a group of college seniors stood with oversized water guns, soaking the crowd.  For four hours, the crowd partied through live sets from surf-punk band Wavves, New Orleans rapper Curren$y and electronic duo Big Gigantic. 

“I wish our school would do something like this,” said Pat Nicholas, a psychology major at Eugene Lang who attended the concert.

Throughout the semester, The New School hosts multiple student events every week.  Throughout April, there are at least two events to choose from each day of the month, except for three days over Easter Weekend.  These events range from Indoor Field Day, which involves dodgeball, basketball and a pizza party, to Auricular Acupuncture.  But when compared to student events at nearby colleges, The New School seems to come up lacking.

Columbia University holds an annual Spring Concert and an annual outdoor movie screening on 4/20. NYU hosts the Strawberry Festival with live music on the last day of classes each spring.  Purchase College in upstate New York puts on a three-day music festival for its students.

So what do these other colleges have that the New School doesn’t?  Money.

“Our budget for the concert is around $108,000,” said Marisa Rama, a senior at Columbia. Rama is a member of student club Bacchanal, responsible for the spring concert and the 4/20 movie screening.  “Part of the funding comes from a school allocation and then class councils within the college donate part of their budget, which also comes from the school.”

(Marisa Rama, taken from her Facebook)

Rama pointed out that most colleges who have spring concerts charge admission, giving them a much bigger budget, but the Columbia event is free.  In previous years, when headliners included Snoop Dogg, Kanye West and Vampire Weekend, the event was exclusive to only those with a Columbia University ID.   This year, however, the more obscure lineup meant that the it was an open event.

According to Kate Walbert, a member of the Student Development and Activities Department at the New School, most student events are run by student organizations and most funding comes from the school. 

Each department at the college receives funding from the university.  The Student Development and Activities Department shares its budget between its various projects, student organizations and civic engagement.  There are approximately fifty student organizations within Student Development and Activities, and the department gives each of its groups a budget of $300.

“They can request additional funding from the University Student Senate and the Student Activities Finance Committee,” Walbert said. 

Most events occur on a weekly basis, but perhaps the most popular are the one-time or annual events, such as the block party held at the start of the fall semester.

“Committees are sometimes formed to plan large events,” Walbert says.  “Last year one student put on a battle of the bands that was very successful and there was a student services committee that formed last year to plan a spring concert in the Tishman auditorium.

New School Block Party
(blogs.newschool.edu)

Walbert didn’t disclose the budget for this concert, but it’s unlikely that it matched Columbia’s $108,000. 

“I think it’s big events like the Columbia concert that help cement a feeling of school community,” said Pat Nicholas, “something that The New School doesn’t really have a lot of.  But how do you do that without any money?”