As if you needed another reason to be disappointed by UMass Amherst‘s incredibly unfortunate decision to cancel all the EDM shows on their campus, it turns out they have a concert scheduled at the same venue that was supposed to host the Above & Beyond and Pretty Lights shows with none other than Mr. “Popped A Molly I’m Sweating” Trinidad James. For an administration so “concerned” about the “Molly Taking Culture” on its campus, it’s comically hypocritical that they’re hosting an event with one of Molly’s biggest spokespeople; this just goes to show how out of touch the administration at UMass really is.
The president of UMass’ Student Government Association sent out this statement to the the whole University after the EDM shows were cancelled:
My name is Zac Broughton and I am the President of the Student Government Association. I wanted to reach out to you today to bring some clarity on the issue of the recent EDM events that were cancelled by the university administration. First, please allow me to say that I did not and I do not support the cancelling of these events. Over the last two weeks, I was in constant communication with Vice Chancellor Enku Gelaye, and Chancellor Subbaswamy about this issue in which I stood firm and told them that we did not think it was the place of the university to dictate the behavior of students. Rather, it is the responsibility of the university to educate students so that they can make better, informed decisions. In my conversations with the administration I stressed the following:
1. Most students do not take Molly or drugs in general and therefore we should not be punishing the many for the actions of the few.
2. By canceling this event, we are saying that everyone that goes and listens to EDM music participates in Molly and/or drug culture.
3. By focusing on Molly, we are ignoring the many other drugs out there that students need to be aware of.
4. Students are adults and should be allowed to make their own choices.
5. We cannot prevent students from doing something if they have their heart set on doing it.
We can only educate and hope they will use that intelligence to make a better decision. The reason why you saw my name in that email yesterday was because I wanted to make sure you knew your SGA representatives were involved with the process and we tried to influence the outcome. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful and the events were cancelled. It was also my hope that you would see my name there and reach out to me and my peers in the SGA to share with us your outrage and ideas on what we can do in the future. I encourage you to email me, come to our office, and work with us to show the administration that this is not right. I am sincerely sorry for those of you who were inconvenienced by this decision. If there is anything else we can do, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you!
Your advocate and fellow student,
Zac
Yes it was very well written, but I’ll believe his words when actions occur. These decisions were forced upon them with uneducated thoughts, and for that reason alone I can’t see this as them actually caring about the well-being of their student body, but merely protecting themselves. The administration at UMass Amherst could really learn a thing or two from the people running UMass Dartmouth, who rather than trying to legislate morality, sent out an e-mail educating students about dangers of Molly in the hopes that they would make good decisions.
If you missed out on Kaskade‘s epic rant on twitter against UMass Amherst‘s senseless hypocrisy make sure you check it out HERE.
What do you guys make of all this? Let us know what you think in the comments.
I don’t know what to say about this. EDM IS being unfairly targeted. Its up to the students to do something about it.
Not to sound like a giant ass, but i’ve never been at a hiphop show and seen someone who is passed out or possibly dead being carried out by a a group of 5-8 full grown men at breakneck speed because they overheated on drugs, i have, however, seen this happen at numerous EDM festivals/shows as well as events done by “jam bands.” Of course i’m not exactly the type who even knew who trindad james was, and i don’t go to large mainstream hiphop shows, and the only reason i’ve been somewhere pretty lights was playing was because it was a festival. That being said i’ve seen way more fights at hiphop shows than anything but metal, and the smell of blunt smoke is always strong, and i don’t like blunts. This doesn’t really justify UMass’s actions, but just like you have the freedom to write this, they have the freedom to not let people perform at their buildings, justified or not, and this is the half the reason for having insurance on your gigs.
It’s just a subterfuge for UMass. The administration is ruthlessly continuing it’s crusade to rid itself of the “zoomass” stigma. The media fire storm is just a convenient excuse for them to cancel shows that could contribute or perpetuate the stigma. I’m sure that they also would like to avoid having to deal with that issue should it arise, but I have little faith that was their first thought. Having been around during all the planing for the changes in policy and their efforts to grow the school and erase the stigma, I can not help but read between the lines on this. I worked for the administration and the office of Student Affairs and Campus Life as an RA. I know all about their plans to grow the school and get rid of the “zoomass” stigma. By no means do I oppose the bettering of the school. I just oppose the methods by which they seek to achieve those ends.
I see kids faced on molly at the dive bar down the street on any given weekend night. The administration is seeking to control the actions of students by taking away all sorts of opportunities. All of this I totally understand from their point of view, but you can’t control these things by taking shit away. You’re basically saying that students don’t have the ability to make good decisions so we’re making them all for them. UMass has been doing this or implying this for YEARS. I agree with the article, this isn’t for the safety of the students as much as it is to protect the institutions reputation…which again I totally understand. I just hate the bull shit. They should just say that instead of all these other “we’re not fascist” explanations. If you wanna control you’re school in a totalitarian manner, fine. You can do that. But own that shit. All this other crap is just insulting. We aren’t dumb.
Continuing to avoid this stigma for years. I was there when Frat Row was the rage and they finally got rid of that in the past 10 years. Every generation or two though comes along with something hot/new/crazy and it’s a new battle to fight. It will never end unless UM goes bankrupt or has to reduce its size drastically (not 100% out of the question, but still a stretch to occur right now).
Absolute ignorance and hypocrisy.
M.I.N.T. Enterprise Group understands student’s frustration with the cancellation of EDM events at UMass Amherst. As fellow event promoters of Fright Fest 3 who also utilize the university’s venue, we can only imagine the regret of disappointing thousands of students by cancelling these highly anticipated performances so close to the events dates.
We understand the time and planning it takes for the marketing and production of these concerts just to be cancelled because of the fear of a few individuals’ actions. It is sad what the culture of Electronic Dance Music is experiencing. Hip-Hop and Heavy Metal have shared similar occurrences in the past. But if the university cancels Fright Fest 3 because of a drug reference in a particular song it would be unfortunate for all the students who look forward to attending our event who do not use drugs, just as it is unfortunate for all non-drug using students who looked forward to attending Pretty Lights and Above & Beyond. We should not marginalize nor associate either genres of music with drug use. Comparing any events to drug use will send the wrong message to students, while further promoting a negative stigma of these music genres and will only have more events cancelled on campus.
If we want to continue seeing events hosted at UMass, we as music enthusiast should educate students on the dangers of drug use to help create a safer environment for everyone to enjoy.
Throwing another genre of music under the bus will not ameliorate the situation.
cancel above and beyond?! they’re so innocent!
all UMass students in the EDM club need to organize and hold marches and rallies with as many allies as they can get– take it to the streets! make your voice be heard! camping out on the chancellor’s lawn should get his attention right quick!
It literally saddens and outrages me that an entire university can be so negative. Canceling all EDM events is not only drastic but stereotyping to the fullest. Why should I not be able to attend a performance because of the genre of music? When hip hop and rap was first introduced to our society it was looked down on, and people fought claiming it was discrimination to judge all who listen to this certain genre of music.
It is so sad that no one recognizes the positives of the electronic music culture, and especially with a group as powerful as Above & Beyond are. Do the officials at UMass know about the proposal that Above & Beyond took part of during electric zoo? Above & Beyond helped a friend of mine propose to his girlfriend through their set at Electric Zoo in New York last month. Made event, and Above & Beyond asked for nothing in return from this, because they are that in touch with their fans. Then you cancel that artist because of “molly related deaths?” While UMass has not only ignored the actions of these djs, they have ignored the meaning behind the music. There is not a single song by Above & Beyond that promotes drug use, and yet Trinidad James’ became famous through a song that glamorizes drug use. If UMass was truly concerned with the safety of their students and the rising harm from drugs like “molly,” why would they invite someone like Trinidad James to their school to perform?
All that UMass has shown is that it is okay to stereotype based off of one genre of music. UMass is promoting discrimination, and is just being completely unfair in it’s actions against electronic music fans and artists. It is sad that no one can bring up all the glorification of drug use through other artists and songs from other genres in music. I am so sick of my music and my culture being looked at as negative, when electronic artists are the ONLY artists speaking out against drug use, and for the safer use of drugs if anything.
If someone would give me a way to contact someone at UMass, it would be great to see what their explanation for their stupidity is.