The College of William and Mary’s Student Assembly passed a bill this week to give up to $50,000 to Alma Mater Productions to bring a big-name band to campus to perform in early February.
The Charter Day Concert Act passed in a vote of 16-5.
AMP has already created a prioritized list of performers for the concert based on probable availability and popularity. The list of artists being considered has not been released.
Several members of AMP were present at the meeting to provide input.
“This concert will transform Charter Day from a meagerly attended ceremony on a Saturday morning to a campus-wide celebration,” Nick Velleman ’11, AMP music productions committee chair, said. “Most importantly, it will unite the College and generate excitement for its history and tradition.”
Charter Day, scheduled for Feb. 5, will commemorate the 318th anniversary of the granting of the Royal Charter, which many consider the College’s birthday.
“This would bring a new importance to Charter Day, a tradition unique to the College, and influence other big names to eventually come to campus,” Senate Chairman Stef Felitto ’12 said.
The concert will take place in William and Mary Hall, and about 3,000 students are projected to attend.
Tickets to the event are expected to cost about $10 per person.
The Fall Break Airport Shuttle Act passed unanimously at Tuesday’s meeting.
The SA will allocate up to $4,500 to pay Oleta Coach Lines for transportation services to nearby airports Friday Oct. 9 and Tuesday Oct. 12.
This service has been provided by the SA for the last several years. Bill sponsor Sen. Carlos Quintela ’12 said that with this service the SA hopes to help students without cars who would return home for breaks.
“Providing services like this to students is what the Student Assembly is supposed to do,” Quintela said. “Making life easier for classmates is always a good thing.”
Two shuttle buses, each with a 36-person capacity, will make three departures from the Sadler Center during a five-hour window on each day. Students can take a shuttle bus to Richmond International Airport, Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport and Norfolk International Airport.
There is no required pre-departure sign-up.
The Senate also passed the Reform Your Assembly Now Act by unanimous consent Tuesday night.
In the current two-branch system of the Student Assembly, each Senate Committee is required to send a liaison to the meetings of the corresponding Executive Department.
The Senator liaison attends meetings as a non-voting member in order to keep the Senate informed about work in the Executive branch.
This bill requires that the Executive Departments also send liaisons to Senate Committee meetings in order to facilitate and increase communication between the branches of the SA.
When asked whether or not the passage of this legislation was redundant, bill sponsor Sen. Ryan Ruzic J.D. ’11 said he believed it is not.
“This will create a faster, smoother organization, and it will bind us together as two different branches that are members of the same team,” Ruzic said.
