This year’s Homecoming Weekend was a vast improvement over last year’s event.

Improving drastically, the University gave its students and their parents, faculty, staff, and alumni the chance to engage in various activities and attend numerous events.

During the jam-packed weekend, which started on Thursday October 25, students had the opportunity to attend a carnival, a pep rally, sporting events, a talent show, and the play “Bat Boy,” presented by the Chappel Players, St. John’s Theatre Group.
But the centerpiece event of this year’s Homecoming Weekend was supposed to be a concert, where the main act was Common, a Grammy-winning hip-hop star.

Despite bringing the biggest act this semester, one would think that Carnesecca Arena, where the concert was held, would be packed, right? Wrong.

What was expected to be the biggest concert actually turned out to be a major disappointment, as there were a scant number of people in the crowd.

There were merely 575 people at the Common concert while Carnesecca’s seating capacity is 6,008. That means that at least 90 percent of the seats were unoccupied.

Clearly this must have been disappointing to the University, because more than 3,500 people attended the Gym Class Heroes concert just last month, despite Gym Class Heroes being a less popular act, according to album sales.

But what is really to blame for the poor attendance at the Common concert? Certainly cost may have been a factor.

While this concert cost $10, the Gym Class Heroes concert was free of charge. This fact may have influenced students in their decision not to attend the Common concert after attending a free concert just a few weeks before.

It is not a new theory that college students are attracted to anything that is free.

Any time an organization advertises one of its events, the words “free food” must be mentioned in order for students to show up.
Asking a college student for $10, however, is not asking for much. How many times have you spent $10 on lunch or on a movie ticket? $10, in fact, should have been seen as a bargain for a concert where a reputable entertainer was performing.

Students should not have let the $10 charge prevent themselves from attending this year’s Homecoming concert.

By not going, students did not allow themselves to experience the school spirit that the University has tried hard to foster.