My name is Zac Broughton and I am the president of the Student Government Association (SGA). I’m reaching out to you today to discuss the recent electronic dance music concert (EDMC) events that the university administration has cancelled.

First and foremost, please allow me to say that I did not and do not support the cancellations of these events. I want you to know that, as your elected representative, I have fought on your behalf to get the administration to respect our ability, as adults, to make smart and safe decisions for ourselves.

I can confidently say that, to the best of my ability, I have voiced the opinions of my peers in order to find alternative ways to correct the issue of frequent MDMA use on college campuses. I have also brought to light the unfortunate association of MDMA use at EDMC concerts.

Over the last two weeks, I have been in constant communication with Vice Chancellor of Students Affairs and Campus Life Enku Gelaye, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and countless others about this issue. I stood firm and told them that it is not the place of the University to dictate the behavior of students. Rather, it is the responsibility of the University to educate students so that they can make better, informed decisions.

In my conversations with the administration I stressed the following six points: (1) most students do not take Molly or drugs in general and therefore we should not be punishing the many for the actions of the few; (2) by canceling this event, we are saying that everyone that listens to EDM participates in Molly and/or drug culture; (3) by focusing on Molly, we ignore the many other drugs that students need to be aware of; (4) we need to treat our students like the adults that they are and allow them to make their own decisions; (5) we cannot prevent students from doing something if they have their heart set on doing it and (6) we can only educate and hope they will use that intelligence to make a better decision.

I sent an email on Thursday to inform you of two additional EDMC cancellations and explain the reasoning behind the decision. I did so because I wanted to make sure you knew that your SGA representatives were involved with the process and tried to influence the outcome. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful, and the administration did cancel the events.

To reiterate, the SGA is disappointed in the University of Massachusetts administration’s cancellations of all EDM concerts for the year. We believe an educational campaign would provide a better and more effective solution.

It was also my hope that you would see my name at the bottom of Thursday’s email and reach out to me and my SGA peers to share with us your outrage and ideas on what we can do in the future, because we are here to lobby on behalf of you, the student population. I encourage you to email me, come to our office and work with us to show the administration that these cancellations are not right and that we disapprove with the course of action taking place.

I also want to make clear that I will work with administrators and other SGA representatives to voice your opinions, thoughts, ideas, questions and solutions to the administration. I am sincerely sorry for those of you who this decision inconvenienced. I want to assure you that, as a representative of the student body, I fight for student rights every day and try my best to collaborate with students, administrators and town representatives on issues that affect us as students. If you feel we can do anything more as your representatives, please let me know.

Zac Broughton is the President of the Student Government Association. He can be reached at [email protected].