PPC needs help to afford Pete

Pitt’s newest, proudest facility, the Petersen Events Center, appears to be a never-ending… Pitt’s newest, proudest facility, the Petersen Events Center, appears to be a never-ending source of news and controversy.

Last June, before it had even opened, the Pete had faculty and staff in a tizzy because the University administration decided not to allow them to use its workout facilities. At the same time, the limited number of season basketball tickets made available to students had them distraught.

Earlier this month the Pete officially opened to much fanfare. Then Pitt announced that not only was the Pete to host a concert in October, but that students would be able to purchase tickets for the concert featuring the Counting Crows before the general public.

This piece of University news was an amicable gesture from the administration to students. The presale was a gift – it seemed to confirm, despite criticisms to the contrary, what Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill said about the University’s decisionmaking in June. “We want to make sure that since we’re a student-centered university, this new magnificent facility would be accessible to students,” he said.

Once again the Pete is making news. But it’s not so amicable this time.

According to Jocelyn Gamble, Pitt Program Council’s executive board director, PPC can’t afford the Pete’s arena to host concerts. PPC usually allocates $10,000 to $12,000 for a band to perform at the concerts it organizes, but the cost of paying an act plus the cost of the facilities would cost too much.

Herein lies the problem: PPC is Pitt’s student group designated to create and plan fun and educational events. The organization’s goal is to represent and serve the student body and its interests. It receives the largest single allocation from the student activities fee budget. Functionally speaking – considering its designated position and purpose – if PPC is denied the ability to use the Pete, students are denied. If PPC can’t use the Pete for educational or entertainment purposes, then what student-serving group can?

This is not to say, however, that there’s no way for PPC or other student organizations to host a concert at the Pete. Certainly, the University could decide, as a kind gesture to the students whose tuition is paying for the building, to help pay for such an event – particularly by offering the arena free of charge. It is also conceivable that various groups, including the University administration, could team up to pay for PPC to organize and host a concert.

Nonetheless, it’s saddening that students might be denied access to a building they’d like to be able to call their own. It would behoove the University to consider helping PPC just once each year – further sending the message to students that the Pete really is for them.