Meeting Story - Progressive Student Union

The Progressive Student Union (PSU) is facing difficulties in planning a concert and lecture featuring Immortal Technique, a social activist and rapper, due to university budget cuts and a general lack of funding.

Breanna Van Engelen, a political science major and PSU member in charge of planning the Immortal Technique events is currently re-negotiating with Immortal Technique the cost of the possible concert and lecture, she said in a PSU meeting Wednesday.

Due to a number of budget cuts affecting the Registered Student Organizations (RSOs), Aric Kleppin, one of the leaders of PSU and a 22-year-old History and Spanish major, said he doubted that the concert would take place this semester.

“The program that (the university) canceled was the Student Programming Grant, which is where RSOs get a lot of their money from,” Kleppin said. “In the budget cuts they got rid of that (grant) completely, so that kind of hurt our chances for having the concert.”

Tim Krautkraemer, a 21-year-old, comparative ethnic studies major and one of the leaders in PSU explained that in previous years RSOs could apply for the grant, which offered about $30,000 to $35,000 to fund the events of various student groups. Last semester, however the program was cut completely and replaced with a “Cougar Parent Grant,” which was a much smaller grant and more difficult for RSOs to apply for.

“We didn’t get any money out from the Cougar Parent Grant to fund the concert,” he said. “So that made it a lot harder. There is just less money going around for student groups on-campus.”

In addition to the university budget cuts, Engelen said the fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon, who had originally offered to help pay for the concert had recently dropped their offer.

Despite the budget setback, Engelen said she is still trying to negotiate a smaller fee with Immortal Technique to get him to come.

“I am trying to get him to come for the price of all his concert tickets,” she said. “Tickets would be $10 and we can fit 1,300 people in the CUB senior ballroom, so he would get paid (up to) $13,000.”

If Immortal Technique was willing to come for just the profit of the ticket sales, she said, then PSU would be responsible for only the costs of hosting the events.
“We would pay to put on the concert (and) lecture; all of the audio equipment, security, hotel, which would be like $4,000,” she said.

Kleppin said he thought $4,000 was a reasonable amount of money for the group to come up with, however he was not convinced it would be possible.

PSU may be able to get other student groups on-campus involved in the organization and funding of the events, such as the Black Student Union and Middle Eastern Student Association, he said.

“It is really important to get different perspectives and alternative opinions to a university the size of Washington State,” Krautkraemer said. “(Immortal Technique) is a really talented musician and really well-spoken and I think our university would benefit from hearing someone with experience with the criminal justice system and a really good perspective on global issues.”

Krautkraemer said it was the goal of PSU to promote diversity of perspectives and an awareness of global and social justice issues.

The idea of bringing Immortal Technique to campus was brought up last semester and PSU have been working on it ever since, he said.

“It is a really ambitious goal for a group our size and our budget,” Krautkraemer said. “I think it is going to be something really hard to organize given the financial situation with the student groups on campus.”

He said the tentative dates for the lecture and concert are April 22 and 23.
Engelen said she was currently waiting to hear back from Immortal Technique and by PSU meeting next Wednesday she would know whether he would be willing to come to WSU without a fixed rate.


OUTLINE
1. What happened?
a. Immortal Technique may or may not come to WSU because of budget cuts and price negotiations
b. There is still a possibility of him coming, it all depends on the outcome of current negotiations
2. How did the budget cuts affect the planning of the concert?
a. They affected all RSOs, making the possibility of a concert almost non-existent
b. Also the fraternity bailed on them.
c. How are they trying to get around this obstacle?
i. Trying to come up with a reasonable sum they will be able to fundraise for.
3. Why Immortal Technique? How does he fit into the Progressive Student Union’s views? What would he bring to WSU?
a. Diverse perspectives
b. He is a successful ex-con, who has a “different” and alternative perspective on global issues

Sources
Aric Kleppin, a student leader in PSU and a WSU student majoring in Spanish and History.
Aric.Kleppin@gmail.com
(907)748-7215

Tim Krautkraemer, one of the student leaders in PSU and a WSU student majoring in comparative ethnic studies.
509-339-3335
tkrautkraemer@wsu.edu

Breanna Van Engelen, event planner for Immortal Technique concert, PSU member and a WSU student majoring in political science
208-866-5919
breannav@wsu.edu