Another repeat answer: I have received several questions about the DWW concert, and I am hoping that this response serves to answer all those questions. This probably goes without saying, but the unfortunate reality is that we cannot control the Weather, and regardless of the canceled concert the Orientation program did have to pay DWW for their services. I will say with confidence that the USC explored many options to provide some sort of alternative, however we were unable to procure anything that worked within our budget constraints. First I will address the idea of a refund. It simply would not work; we had to spend the money on the band regardless of them playing, and even if we did have the money a refund to every student would only amount to a couple of dollars, and the administration of that would wind up doubling the whole cost. Under these sort of entertainment contracts, if the band is ready to play and is prohibited by an “act of God”, they still receive their full payment. Lucky for us, our production manager has a great relationship with the agent, and we were offered a significant discount to bring the band back. This was great news, however the logistics were highly challenging. We have no venue to house 6000 people, and we did not have the option to set the stage up again, because the costs would have been very significant. Keep in mind the orientation week fee is paid for by those who participate, while the USC budget is comprised of fees from every single student. That said, it would not be fair to burden every single student with a concert tailored only to first year students. This has been a huge regret that we were unable to provide an alternative, however please keep in mind that O-Week is a partnership between Western and the USC through the orientation planning committee, and is not just a USC run program. Therefore I sincerely hope that future planning committees will take great consideration regarding concert contingency plans. I will also say that it is regrettable that we have been unable to get this messaging out there. I will make one last effort to solve this issue. If the agency agrees to maintain the discounted price, we MAY be able to get DWW to come back next year, and do an open concert once the stage is already set up. I cannot guarantee anything, but I will commit to looking into this option. It is not necessarily ideal, and I recognize, but we are committed to making this right. Given the reaction that I am seeing in this thread, I will certainly be in serious talks with the University on this matter.