On Campus Presents is one of a few presenting organizations at Sonoma State University. Last year, On Campus Presents brought Matt Nathanson to perform for the student body, as well as Aziz Ansari and LipJam, an annual philanthropy event hosted by sorority Alpha Gamma Delta.
Associated Student Productions, JUMP, Residential Life and a few other organizations work with Erik Dickson, the direct of On Campus Presents. Their job is to help bring “fun” to the student population at Sonoma State University, as well as to their community.
On Campus Presents was originally created when the Green Music Center opened on campus. It was designed to help bring student-centered events to the Green Music Center.
“There are already a ton of student events stuff that happen at the GMC; classes, performances, the music department is in there all the time,” said Dickson.
Dickson explained that his job is to bring non-academic events to campus that relate to the students and not just the community around Sonoma State University. He is also trying to bring popular music and events for the general population of Rohnert Park.
Dickson works with student-run clubs and organizations on campus to help them get connected with major events. In other words, the student organization’s name will be there as well as On Campus Presents when an event is advertised.
“I’m trying to add four or five events a year that are in the Green Music Center or around the Green Music Center,” said Dickson.
Dickson explained how people usually associate the Green Music Center with classical music.
Because of this, Dickson is trying to incorporate a wider variety of events and musicians to perform at the venue.
Starting next semester, On Campus Presents will have performances in the upstairs ballroom of the Green Music Center.
In the spring, the Sonoma State student body and community can look forward to quite a few events.
In February, On Campus Presents is hoping to have a comedy show. Following the comedy show, the return of LipJam, which is a dance competition between the Greek organizations on campus, will be in March.
In April, there will be another comedy show or possibly a lecture by someone from the California Supreme Court.
Following these events, there may also be a country music concert in the ballroom in April.
On Campus Presents had originally planned to have country music star Hunter Hayes to perform last year at the Green Music Center, but this did not happen due to the singer’s unexpected rise to fame.
There is still a chance that On Campus Presents can have Hunter Hayes perform at the Green Music Center in the fall of 2014.
Dickson explained that it is very difficult to get “big” artists to perform at the Green Music Center, such as Maroon 5 or Beyoncé, because they have much bigger events elsewhere. However, Dickson has a list of hundreds of artists that students have asked to see perform here on campus, and keeps them under advisement.