It’s that time of year again. The weather starts to get chillier, the leaves change their colors, and the Multi-Organizational Board (MOB) brings us another hit-or-miss act for our seasonal concerts. 3LAU (How do you pronounce that?) and The Chainsmokers both come from the genre of Electronic Dance Music, the latter gracing us with every Snapchatter and Instagram-poster’s anthem, “#Selfie.”
Now, the problem here is not really about the quality or genre of the acts that are being brought to campus, because everyone very well might like this semester’s choices. The problem is how the acts are chosen.

MOB is responsible for providing the campus with diversified entertainment and activities on a weekly basis. Next to Student Senate, MOB has more clout than other group on campus.

However, when it comes to the concerts that we have twice a year, why do a group of 10 students out of 2500 get to decide who comes to perform for us?

At the end of last year, you might remember receiving an email with a survey asking what genre of music we would want represented at this year’s fall concert. But why were the results of that survey not released at the beginning of this year? How do we even know if they followed the desires of that survey? In the same way that the public knows which candidates will run in the general election after the presidential primaries, why did MOB not tell us what genre was the most requested, and let us give them ideas on who to bring from there?

When you have 10 people making this kind of decision, you are going to have the tastes of those 10 people represented in our concerts. Writing on a white board outside of an office to ask for our opinions hardly constitutes “representation.” Andrew DiNardo ‘16, a faithful concert attendee, felt, “surprised with this semester’s choice.” DiNardo went on to say “I like that we are appealing to different types of musical tastes, however, I’m unsure if the opinions of the student body were fully heard.”

If MOB really wants to give the student body what they want, some serious changes need to be made.

First, the decision on who to bring to campus for the concerts should not resemble some sort of Christmas surprise. Sure, it’s exciting to anticipate who is coming to perform for us, but there would be a much better turnout, and more student satisfaction, if it was a community effort to decide who was being brought.

Secondly, there needs to be transparency about what is feasible and affordable for MOB to do. Dickinson students understand that there are limits on who MOB can bring, and that it’s not feasible to bring someone like Kanye West onto campus. If they could, they would bring him, instead of bringing two DJs that make songs about being like him.

If you are happy with this semester’s choice, then by all means have a good time. If you are not, then take a stand and don’t attend the concert. Show MOB that they must listen to us. And who knows, maybe both acts will pull a Chiddy Bang and forget they have a show to do.