What Are We Prepared To Pay For?

Today I received an email from Jim Nauls about a concert at Bridges Auditorium on January 22. While I can think of better uses of my time, I can also think of better uses of our money.

I have nothing against singer, Ryan Adams. I even like his music, but I have serious reservations about his visit to the Claremont Colleges. For starters, I am not entirely comfortable with bringing a singer to an academic community. It's one thing to use our largess to attract politically controversial or informative speakers. It's quite another to bring a singer to the Claremont Colleges.

True, the tickets will be only $37.00, but like with all music promoters, I'm sure that the Claremont Colleges have guaranteed a certain economic return for Mr. Adams. What amount of money are we doing paying to bring him here?

Mr. Adams's invitation to speak at the Claremont Colleges comes on the heels of Pomona's decision to not invite former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales due to cost.

The questions this invitation of Adams presents is why are we paying to bring Adams here, but not paying to bring Alberto Gonzales. Why is a school bringing a singer to sing? Why is there a 5 college campus wide program that pays to bring singers, but no campus wide program that pays to bring speakers? What is a school doing bringing singers? Can't the good students of the colleges find, attend, and pay for their own concerts on their own time?

If the schools are going to spend the money they get from tuition and from the endowments, don't you think they ought to bring only academic, informative, or political speakers?

The Student Life recently ran an editorial critical of Claremont McKenna for bringing Bono or Bill Clinton to Claremont and not inviting Pomona students. Today we use their facilities for our speakers and while we may throw them some money, we're not being good neighbors. Instead, we should invite them to help us pay for our speakers and work to build a program. There clearly is a desire for that kind of a partnership.

I don't see that kind of desire or support for a 5-C entertainment program for a singer that few will learn from, most won't attend, and some dislike.