MTV's Rock the Vote bus won't roll onto The U of M campus because of the administration's concerns about conflicts with University corporate sponsors.
"The administration told us that key corporate relationships could be in jeopardy," said Pam Saavedra, senior political science major.
Saavedra has been working since last semester to bring Rock the Vote to campus. She is a member of Students for Political and Community Activism (SPCA).
"This is a public education institution," Saavedra said. "The students should be of primary importance and they were pushed aside when trying to bring a voter registration event to campus in a presidential election year."
Rock the Vote's bus tour across the country primarily targets college campuses.
The event, which was scheduled to stop at The U of M Sept. 17 for voter registration, concerts by local bands and a political colloquium co-hosted by Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton, has been cancelled by the administration.
"Certain conditions made it nearly impossible for Rock the Vote to come to The University of Memphis," said Laura Elm, MTVÃs subcontracted project manager for Rock the Vote. "The University called me and said that they were uncomfortable with the event coming to campus because of some of their sponsors, including bottlers."
The U of M has a lucrative contract with Coca-Cola giving them exclusive rights on campus. Rock the Vote's corporate sponsors include Sunkist.
In order to host Rock the Vote, The University of Memphis had to accept the corporate sponsors that were part of the event, said William Porter, U of M Dean of Students and vice president of student affairs.
"The University decided that it was not appropriate to host other corporate sponsors on campus," said Porter. "The University made the full decision to cancel the event."
The University of Memphis did not make an attempt to contact contracted vendors for a one-day exemption for Rock the Vote.
U of M student and Students for Political and Community Action member Stacey Luttrell had been working to bring the event to campus since last spring.
"I took the idea to the Student Activities Council (SAC), and they kept blowing me off," Luttrell said. "We had even negotiated the price down from $20,000 to $5,000."
In a July meeting with Dean Porter and Associate Dean of Student Leadership and Involvement Justin Lawhead, Luttrell said, "If this isn't something you want to do, tell me right now, and IÃll take it to another university."
Planning for the event continued despite what Luttrell called "confusion and lack of communication within SAC."
Each time the specifics of the technical rider for Rock the Vote came up, Coca-Cola was mentioned, said Luttrell.
Riders are contracts detailing specific requests for events, concerts and other productions.
On Sept. 2, 15 days before the event, Luttrell received a call from Dean Porter's office for a meeting that afternoon.
"Dean Porter told me that The University was unable to work out contractual obligations and Rock the Vote could not come," said Luttrell.
"I wasn't surprised that The University cancelled the event," Saavedra said. "They never seemed very eager to work with us in terms of bringing it to campus."
The students are forced to accept these corporate relationships, but they don't see the benefits from them, Saavedra said.
Rock the Vote production manager Laura Elm said certain conditions made this a no-win situation for the school.
"As far as some of the internals at The University of Memphis, including student organizations, I think that the event was taken out of their hands," Elm said.
A copy of The University's exclusive contract with Coca-Cola Enterprises and Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Memphis includes clauses that could have put The U of M in breach of contract if Rock the Vote and its sponsors had come to campus.
In addition to Sunkist, other Rock the Vote corporate sponsors include Ben and Jerry's, Cingular and Motorola.
The U of MÃs extensive contract with Coca-Cola for both beverage vending and athletic sponsorship states in provision C: "Sponsor shall serve as the exclusive corporate sponsor in the Beverage category of University academic programs and Campus activities ..."
Provision D, section 1, clause c of The UniversityÃs Coca-Cola contract states: "The University shall not permit Competitive Products to be sold, distributed, dispensed, served, sampled, advertised, or promoted on the University Campus."
In addition to descriptions regarding the exclusivity and non-compete nature of the agreement, the contract lists payments from Coca-Cola Enterprises and Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Memphis to The University of Memphis in the form of vending commissions, athletic sponsorship and corporate sponsorship that total $594,048 annually.
"I feel used by the school since they are treating students like a target market," Saavedra said.
Another U of M student and SAC member expressed his disappointment in the cancellation.
"Stacey, along with the people who worked closely with her in bringing this event to campus, worked extremely long and hard to bring this great program to campus and I, myself, find it unfortunate that Rock the Vote will no longer be a part of the events that those individuals had envisioned," said Eric Sirignano, SAC representative and senior geography and anthropology major.
Because of the event's cancellation on The U of M campus, the Students for Political and Community Activism is hosting a Voter Awareness Day Friday on the Alumni Mall and in the Rose Theater. For additional information contact Stacey Luttrell at 454-9733 or 277-0193.
A scaled-down version of The Rock the Vote bus tour will make a stop in Memphis on Sept. 17 at LeMoyne-Owen College.
