Other campus groups to take over programs

The All Campus Programming Board will not return as a student organization in the fall.

The organization that formerly organized FlashFest, Rockin’ the Ratt and other on-campus events is folding after not receiving the money it had in the past from Undergraduate Student Government, starting last year. Some of the programs, such as FlashFest, were continued by the USG programming board.

Della Marie Marshall, associate director of the Center for Student Involvement, said the reason ACPB will not return is the lack of interest in the program.

“A number of members graduated and moved on from the university, and we did not have the interest to keep the group going,” Marshall said. “If I get some students who are interested (in ACPB), then it would still exist.”

Former ACPB president Doug Hite said the reason no one is interested is because without the funding from USG and help from advisers, it is too difficult to put on programs.

“ACPB can exist if there’s leadership and faculty to help students be part of ACPB,” he said. “Right now, that leadership does not exist. You can be really excited about doing a program, but when you go to a faculty member or adviser, and when that adviser berates your program and how it’s not gonna work and how it’s a waste of time, you eventually give up. Of course students don’t want to do ACPB when the faculty wont help ACPB.”

Marshall said consolidating programming groups such as ACPB, USG and CSI has been planned for about two years.

“It makes sense to consolidate dollars and try to program more effectively to try to reach a larger number of students. ACPB used to receive major dollars, now they don’t have that,” she said. “Two years ago, Undergraduate Student Senate (now USG), they were looking at a whole revamping and reorganization. The decision was they would create their own programming board. Last year was the first year there was no more ‘Here, now you have your money’ (to ACPB) and those dollars went to the programming board.”

Hite said ACPB tried to adapt last year, but it was too difficult to get money for programs.

“Mainly, CSI paid for some things, the vice president’s office paid for some things. It just was not a feasible way to do it,” he said. “If you tell USG they can’t do great big shows unless they go to allocations six weeks beforehand, then (the shows) would not happen. There’s no way at all groups on campus could function with only allocations funding.”

Hite said he still supports on-campus programming, even if his group isn’t the one in charge of it.

“Give whatever initials you want to give it, if there’s good programs to make others happy, I’m happy,” he said. “I really hope that things work out, that we can still have programs on campus and keep students safe because that was always ACPB’s priority – to give people a good experience, a Kent experience, to make sure students are in a safe place to have fun.”

Contact editor Cody Francis at [email protected].