Snoop Dogg concert may hit UNC policy hurdle

Although UNC won a free concert with hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg, facility use guidelines prohibiting commercial events may force the concert off-campus, organizers said.

The contest — part of a promotional push for Electronic Arts’ video game “Bulletstorm” — saw more than 35,000 people vote on Facebook, said EA Campus Representative Tyler Bronzino, a UNC senior.

The concert, with an estimated value of $500,000, would be free for UNC students, Bronzino said.

But the University’s facilities use policy specifically prohibits nonaffiliated groups from using campus space for commercial promotion.

“The use of state property to sell and promote a product is an issue,” said Tony Patterson, senior associate director of the Student Union.

EA Campus — a marketing division of Redwood City, Calif.-based video game giant Electronic Arts — is not an officially recognized student organization and as such, is subject to a different set of event planning guidelines, said Don Luse, Carolina Union Director.

But EA Campus has operated at UNC in the past, Bronzino said.

“I mean, EA is a corporation, but we’ve gotten permission from UNC before to hold events,” Bronzino said.

The sheer size of the proposed Snoop Dogg concert would require a different planning process, Luse said.

“Normally, outside groups aren’t bringing in large concerts like this,” said Nate Lerner, events planning manager for the Student Union. “I’m not sure if it’s even possible.”

Bronzino and his coordinator, Summer Bradley, the director of the EA Campus Rep program, have contacted the Carolina Union Activities Board for help in planning the concert, CUAB president Tyler Mills said.

As CUAB plans its annual end of the year celebration, it was thought that the Snoop Dogg concert could be combined with whatever concerts and events CUAB develops, Bronzino said.

Bradley did not return calls for comment.

The organization is waiting to hear from the University if the event will be approved. Lauren Sacks, the Union’s assistant director of student learning, said that CUAB expects to hear a response from the University today.

“It will be interesting to see if the University is receptive to this,” Mills said. “It’s a violent video game and given Snoop Dogg’s violent past and drug use, I don’t know how it will go over with the University.”

But Bronzino is confident that the concert will happen, he said. If the concert cannot be held on campus, it would somewhere in the immediate area that would still be free for UNC students, he said.

“I’d hate for the event to not happen,” Bronzino said. “We’re trying to everything by the books and provide a free concert for UNC.”

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