The Badger Herald: News: WUD votes against Mifflin party sponsorship

News

WUD votes against Mifflin party sponsorship

Verveer: Martin’s office against plan due to lack of time

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By Signe Brewster
Friday, April 3, 2009 12:22 a.m.

4 Vote 0 Votes

The Wisconsin Union Directorate voted Wednesday to decline sponsoring the 2009 Mifflin Block Party, citing a lack of time and money to properly host the event.

According to Union President Jeff Rolling, WUD was originally interested in sponsoring the event after being approached by Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, in early March.

However, after further examining the full cost of the event and the timeframe they had to work with, he said WUD ultimately decided against it.

“It is pretty big and very organic, so for a student group to plan it would be a big commitment,” Rolling said.

However, Verveer said he believes the university stepped in and advised WUD to decline sponsorship of the event.

“To my grave disappointment, my understanding is the chancellor’s office has blocked that,” Verveer said. “If that’s the case, I’m very disappointed, and I’m still hoping we can work with student organizations to pull this off on May 2.”

Rolling said WUD did discuss the prospect of sponsoring Mifflin with Chancellor Biddy Martin’s office and the Offices of the Dean of Students, but with the information they gained there, they decided it was not feasible this year.

He said in future years, the university could potentially be more involved.

“It’s a whole campus issue, and I think if anything the Union and Directorate even entertaining the idea of sponsoring Mifflin this year really pushed the chancellor and the dean of students to get into the concept of sponsoring,” Rolling said. “It’s not just one group, but it’s everyone working together to make the event more successful.”

Dawn Crim, special assistant to the chancellor for community relations, said the university lends police support for the event and often engages in conversations about how to make it safer for students, but past that their involvement is minimal.

She said she met with WUD but only to advise them to fully investigate the details of a potential sponsorship.

“WUD was interested in hearing more about their involvement with Mifflin,” Crim said. “I advised them to fully vet what their responsibility would be before making their determination.”

Crim said she spoke with Verveer once about a sponsorship, a conversation that Verveer said gave him the impression the university was not supportive.

Overall, Verveer believes a sponsor would improve Mifflin enough that he does not intend to stop looking.

“The bottom line for me is I am not giving up hope. I know the mayor’s office is not giving up hope. We still have a month to pull this off. There are certainly issues, but they are issues that can be addressed,” Verveer said.

Verveer said he originally approached WUD because he believes a sponsor will solve issues concerning safety and focus that currently surround the event.

“It has always been my thought and hope and preference that we can go back to the roots of the event and provide some semblance of organization,” Verveer said. “I really thought if there was a sponsor — an organizer to work with the cops — they would be more laidback with their enforcement.”

4 Comments | Leave a comment

Anonymous | April 3, 2009 11:45 AM | Reply
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ASM also declined to sponsor Mifflin due to potential liability concerns and the enormous cost requested.

Patrick Solverson | April 3, 2009 2:59 PM | Reply
IP hash: 4d339e04

Issues concerning safety?! Last year was one of the most dosile crowds for Mifflin despite the increased amount of arrests thanks to the police department. Stop trying to “sponsor” (control) every big event that the students enjoy to relieve some stress. You pissed all over halloween and turned it into a corporate revenue generator, can’t you just leave this one alone? Please? Like they said, it’s very organic and very large. Leave it alone!

Let the kids drink free.

Anonymous | April 4, 2009 11:20 AM | Reply
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I still don’t understand the concept of sponsorship for Mifflin. What group would want to be officially affiliated with a huge drunken party where hundreds of people are arrested? Does anyone think it would be an improvement to turn Mifflin into a new, watered-down Freakfest? Who would possibly benefit from this scheme?