With hopes of gaining student support for the upcoming General Obligation Bond referendum, several University organizations will host top-name bands in the Mad Bowl later this month.
The referendum, which calls for $900 million in state higher education bonds, appears on the November ballot, and various student organizations think a concert event will encourage student participation in the election.
Student Council, the University Programs Council, the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Inter-Sorority Council and the Vice President for Student Affairs Office have joined together to present Rock n' Rally, a concert turned political gathering to be held in the Mad Bowl on Saturday, Sept. 28.
The student organizations hope a concert bill including Of A Revolution (O.A.R.), 2 Skinnee j's and Chapel Hill-based hip-hop group Sankofa will draw students to an event that aims to communicate the importance of election participation.
Rock n' Rally "serves a couple of purposes: One, to inform students what's going on with the bond referendum; two, to register voters; and three, to get students to come out and have a good time," Student Council President Micah Schwartz said.
Between concert acts, a roster of local politicians and national personalities will impart the importance of voting in upcoming November elections. Booths at the event will have voter registration material, absentee ballot requests and information on the General Obligation Bond referendum and election candidates.
The exact lineup of politicians and personalities is still undetermined.
Rock n' Rally will focus a large part on increasing student awareness of the bond referendum. The referendum, if passed, would distribute $900 million in bonds to public colleges and universities across Virginia for authorized capital improvement projects.
Schwartz said he hopes a concert will galvanize student attention in a way that the issues alone cannot.
"We know that on its face, the issues are not exciting," Schwartz said. "We presented the idea of a concert because we knew it would draw many faces and we could use the opportunity to educate students on the General Obligation Bond, the need to become politically active and the need to vote."
Because approximately 75 percent of voters must approve the bond referendum for it to pass, it is especially important to get students involved, said Preston Lloyd, media relations coordinator for the Rock n' Rally steering committee.
"We want to get people who might not be interested in political issues [to register to vote] and come out and gain awareness," PK German Chairwoman Genevieve Smith said. PK German is the concert planning arm of UPC.
Aiming to register as many students to vote as possible, Rock n' Rally organizers made special efforts to reach as varied a crowd as possible.
"The General Obligation Bond referendum is an issue that affects all students and the bands were chosen strategically to pull students of every kind of interest," Schwartz said.
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