It’s hard to get anyone involved in extracurricular activities at NKU. We’re the ultimate commuter campus. When class ends most people head to their cars, then to work or home. Hardly anyone hangs around to see what’s going on.
At Freshfusion Thursday NKU seemed alive and exciting. People were packed into the UC plaza eating food, playing basketball and listening to music. The place was loud and it sounded good.
This was due in no small part to the DJ who spun atop scaffolding almost as high as the UC building. Even though he didn’t play any Wu-Tang, he kept the music going the whole evening and that’s all that really matters. He livened up the campus and, presumably, helped bring more curious people over to the event, which is designed to get freshmen involved in campus life.
This is why the next faculty member hired on this campus should be a DJ. We need someone to go up on the scaffolding every few days and just play some music. It doesn’t matter what-hip-hop, classical, pop, international, soul, whatever. If it’s loud enough then people will come by to see what’s going on. If they like the way it sounds then they’ll stay.
The DJ could also serve as a platform for promoting music produced and recorded by students.
Our campus is full of musicians and people in bands. And not just the “once we find a bass player we’re going to seriously do this” bands. Many students record music and play live on a regular basis.
One guy stopped by the Northerner office a couple of weeks ago and played a song he recorded largely on his own. He said he was working on recording other songs as part of his senior project.
The DJ could provide some exposure for these songs, no matter how small, and help those musicians get their music out.
But, if for some strange reason a department doesn’t hire a DJ, it might be interesting to set up an open booth somewhere on campus. This way anybody could bring their own music and play.
Judging from the amount of people who drive around campus bumping their stereo’s, NKU would have a large group of wannabe DJ’s waiting to get behind the 1’s and 2’s every week.
These people who cruise around with their stereo’s set to blow are just trying to express their desire to share something they found.
Expressing yourself while learning about new things is what college is all about. Music is a simple way to expose people to new ideas and perceptions.
Smart and creative people will find other ways to use the booth. International music day? Live music? The possibilities may not be endless, but they’re ready to be explored as soon as someone plugs the speakers in.
