THE MIRROR Independent student newspaper
Week of October 22, 2014
Vol. 40, Iss. 7
Fairfield Mirror @FairfieldMirror fairfieldmirror FairfieldMirror.com
Dialogue discusses free speech on campus By Robert Joyce News Editor
Love and Theft rock the BCC Green By Christina Mowry and Jessica Delahunt Assistant News Editors Students decked out in plaid shirts and cowboys boots crowded onto the Barone Campus Center green on Saturday to enjoy the Fairfield University Student Association Fall Concert featuring country artists Love and Theft. The concert featured two opening acts, DJ Rod Youree and Joel Crouse, and headliner Love and Theft, a country duo consisting of Stephen Barker Liles and Eric Gunderson. Students walked through security and onto the BCC lawn to a backdrop of country songs provided by DJ Youree who opened the show. At around 5:30 p.m., Massachusetts native Joel Crouse took the stage. Crouse has previously toured with well-known country artists such as Toby Keith, The Band Perry and Taylor Swift. Crouse played songs such as his 2013 hit, “If You Want Some,” and “Summer Love.” He also covered Adele’s chart-topping single, “Someone Like You,” which pleased concert attendees. After his set, Crouse stood next to Alumni Hall to meet fans, who eagerly approached him to take pictures and sign autographs. Following Crouse was Love and Theft, whose set began at around 6:45 p.m. and lasted for just over an hour. The duo began by playing “She Gets Me,” an upbeat song that eventually transi-
tioned into a brief cover of Eminem’s “Lose being tallied, she estimates that ticket sales were “somewhere in the 900s.” Yourself.” Hanley explained that concert orgaThe artists then switched back to their own music, playing their lead-off nizers tried to give the event a vibe like that single “Runaway” from their debut album of an outdoor festival, arranging for food “World Wide Open,” released in August trucks to dole out hotdogs and pizza slices to hungry concert-goers. 2009. Students were given a coupon for Love and Theft also played new songs from their next album such as “Can- one free food item when purchasing their dyland,” a song they defined as “an adult concert tickets, said Hanley. Students like Richard Haas III ‘15 version of the board game.” A second new song that was played, “Tanlines,” was met appreciated the more relaxed atmosphere of this year’s conpositively by the audicert. “Concerts ence as they caught on are meant to be a quickly to the lyrics. The country music showcase for the However, “Lose scene doesn’t really Yourself” wasn’t the call for people to trip music, not a way to hook up on only cover that Love on acid. and Theft performed. -John Ritchie the dance floor,” The duo also covered Asst. Director of Public Safety he stated. Senior VicUncle Kracker’s “Drift Away” and The Eagles’ “Take It Easy.” De- toria Mulé also enjoyed the atmosphere: spite performing covers of several popular “It was a lot of fun. Everyone just seemed songs, the audience reacted most enthusi- really happy,” she said. Thomas Cullen, a Stamford native astically to Love and Theft’s own songs. Students energetically belted out the who attended the concert with a friend, lyrics to the duo’s own “If You Ever Get particularly enjoyed the outdoor venue: “It Lonely,” “Night That You’ll Never Forget” was open enough, but still intimate.” “It was much cooler,” agreed Jack and “Runnin’ Out of Air.” According to FUSA Chair of Pro- Santoro ‘18, comparing the venue to that gramming Lindsey Hanley, selecting a of past concerts. The noticeable shift in concert atmocountry artist as this year’s headliner was somewhat of a risk: “With EDM you can sphere was also appreciated by Fairfield’s kind of sell people on the experience,” she Department of Public Safety. “It’s like night and day,” said Assissaid. “Whereas with country, if people tant Director of Public Safety John Ritchie, don’t like the music, it’s harder to sell.” However, Hanley believes the risk when asked to compare student behavior paid off: Although exact numbers are still at this year’s concert to that of prior years.
From a security standpoint, Ritchie said this year’s concert was “uneventful,” and claims that the genre of this year’s concert might be responsible for the change in student behavior. According to Ritchie, there were zero documented transports at the event, a significant decrease from past FUSA concerts such as Diplo, at which 5 individuals were transported. “The country music scene doesn’t really call for people to trip on acid,” he said. “When you bring in a DJ, people have the perception that you need to take certain drugs to experience the music,” Ritchie added. This year’s concert also presented a unique challenge for DPS and FUSA: as the concert was outside, all vantage points to the concert had to be sectioned off to prevent ticketless students from enjoying the concert free of charge. Hanley said that FUSA took the precaution of reserving all meeting rooms in the BCC with a view of the field, as well as the Stag Snack Bar patio and commuter lounge. “We had eyes everywhere,” added Ritchie. For their closing number, Love and Theft performed their hit song “Angel Eyes,” and were joined by their fans, who enthusiastically sang along. “It seemed like preacher’s kids were always the craziest,” said Liles and Gunderson when asked about the inspiration behind the hit song. “We both grew up in the church.”
Students gathered last Thursday evening in the lower level of the Barone Campus Center to participate in Responsible Rights: An Open Dialogue, an event aimed at examining student groups’ rights to responsible and considerate free speech. The open dialogue was largely in response to a controversial event held by the club, Students for Life, in which they hosted the organization Planned Parenthood Project, and distributed materials advocating against Planned Parenthood and their abortion services. Many students criticized the demonstration by Students for Life, calling the methods they used to distribute the materials aggressive. “It was very public, it was very unavoidable, it was very much not by choice … It was people approaching you; It wasn’t viewers approaching a table or a setup of some sort,” said Brigid Callahan ‘16. Callahan was one of the students who helped to orchestrate the Open Dialogue event with the goal of articulating how to allow free speech on campus, while still being conscientious of and respectful to the rest of the student body. “We were definitely responding to the Students for Life event that occurred, but we wanted to not make it about just this group of people. We wanted to respond in a way that held the whole campus accountable,” said Callahan. She illustrated that the main question of the night was, “What can we do as a campus, as this diverse group of organizations, to make sure that we don’t make the campus an unsafe space, to make sure that we don’t offend people on a large scale?” According to Callahan, the dialogue wasn’t necessarily directed at Students for Life, but rather inspired by them. However, despite the goal of READ
STUDENTS ON PAGE 3
Inside this Issue: News:
Students fall for Love and Theft (Page 2)
Opinion: Vine:
Midterms: to Netflix or not to Netflix (Page 6)
Jodi Picoult visits Sacred Heart (Page 8)
Sports:
Seniors score all the goals on Senior Day (Page 16)