The Caribbean Student Association (CSA) and Binghamton University administration are set to discuss the future of the Carnival — which was canceled for the fall semester — sometime this semester.
A date has not yet been chosen, however.
Carnival has been an annual occurrence for more than 30 years at BU, until its cancellation this past May. The event traditionally consists of two parts: a day show that includes student performances and a night show that features prominent and Grammy award-winning reggae and soca artists, who exhibit Carribbean-influenced musical genres. In the past these have included Sean Paul and Elephant Man.
The event was canceled for the fall 2009 semester because of safety issues, according to officials. This semester’s meeting is set to include members of the CSA and the administration, namely Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Rose and Director of the Office of Student Conduct Milton Chester.
According to Christopher Williams, the activities coordinator for CSA, the meeting will be held sometime within the next two weeks.
The meeting, Williams said, will be held “to discuss the Carnival with BU administration and reach a consensus. This way we can make adjustments to the exhibition while keeping the Caribbean culture intact.”
The administration’s main concern with the Carnival has been security measures, especially regarding crowd control.
“We want to explore a way to bring the event to campus in a way that [the CSA] can feel proud of, and that we can manage the safety of for all those involved,” Rose said.
Over the last few years, 90 percent of tickets to Carnival were sold to non-students which, according to Rose, created the need for more University police and Harpur’s Ferry crew members than any other on-campus event did.
According to Williams, members of the CSA never saw any report regarding the reasons for the cancellation of the CSA Carnival.
“Since we never really saw the report we do not know what exactly the issues are,” Williams said. “We tried speaking to other parts of the administration but they just gave us advice and general information.”
Williams said he is hoping that the meeting will help resolve that issue, as well as any previous miscommunications between CSA and the administration.
He also hopes that the outcome of this meeting will be a CSA Carnival Exhibition in the fall 2010 semester.
The CSA held a peaceful rally on Nov. 12, 2009, on the BU campus to make the administration aware of their concern regarding the hiatus of the Carnival.
“The protest was really there to get the attention of the administration to go forward with the proceedings,” Williams said.
Other than Carnival, CSA’s other major event is a cultural night which will take place Feb. 27 in the Mandela Room.