On Monday, the Privilege Fee Committee voted to grant the Campus Entertainment Fund an continuance of their $150,000 allocation.
The Campus Entertainment Fund, a branch of the Union Program Council, is responsible for bringing performers like Nick Jonas, Seth Meyers and Nick Offerman to Kansas State.
Throughout the year, Beth Bailey, UPC adviser and K-State Student Union program director, said the fund brings a series of small and large events that are either free or of low cost to students.
Natalie Jabben, student senator and sophomore in political science, said the Campus Entertainment Fund inspires a sense of community at K-State by drawing students that live on or off campus to events.
Jabben said it is important to make the distinction between this particular entity and others in terms of how a decrease would impact it. Jabben said the conversation is not so much about whether or not the fund will be able to operate with a decrease of any amount, but a discussion about the amount of and openness of live events.
“I think a decrease could impact how many students do go to these big name events,” Alec Hildreth, student senator and senior in marketing, said. “Ticket prices will go up, and then the amount of people who utilize the service will go down.”
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Donny Riffel, student senator and junior in computer science, also said he is wary of decreasing the allocation because it could “constrict” the fund’s ability to continue to bring big names to campus.
Riffel said he believes the entertainment the fund and UPC bring to K-State is typically wide-reaching in terms of audience and has historically gotten better every year, citing specifically the turnout for Nick Jonas in the spring of 2018.
The committee agreed, based on the experience the Campus Entertainment Fund brings to K-State students, that a continuation would allow the fund to operate at the same caliber that it has in the past.
It was moved and seconded that the committee allocate the entity’s requested continuance to student senate. The motion passed with 10 committee members in favor and none opposed.
The committee also voted to include the Campus Entertainment Fund in the UPC review cycle while maintaining separate contracts.
The committee recommendation for the Campus Entertainment Fund will be introduced to student senate on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Wildcat Chambers and will likely be voted on the following week.
The committee will hear the allocation request from the UPC on Monday, Oct. 29 at 5:30 p.m. in the SGA conference room in the Center for Student Involvement.
