This post is a call for information about anybody who is losing student group money due to contracting issues and the Eclectic House Hosting Restriction.

There has been a severe lack of balanced information regarding this whole controversy; the only public statements are being issued by members of the Eclectic society, while the SJB are most likely bound by confidentiality restrictions and are thus unable to respond to Eclectic's accusations. While I don't want to call Eclectic a bunch of liars, there is evidence that Eclectic may be misrepresenting their case.

This is mostly due to a comment by Anna W on Aural Wes post Free Eclectic (and one of the few actual pieces of information from the Administration):

Here is the notice Eclectic's house manager received in his mailbox yesterday, explaining what it would mean for Eclectic to be on "disciplinary probation":

"200 High Street as a venue for performances, gatherings, parties or any events is restricted through April 30, 2009. This restriction will be lifted to allow the previously contracted event to occur at 200 High Street during accepted candidates' weekend."

We're relaying the information as it is relayed to us. More as it comes in.

The wording of this letter strongly implies that the ban is being lifted on Wesfest is due to "previous contracting," as opposed to the idea that (as Eclectic has been asserting) "selling the school to prospective students is more of a priority than maintaining a thriving student culture."

However, as I mentioned earlier, I do not want to unduly accuse anybody of intentionally misleading the student body. What's more, "strongly implies" by no means "proves" that this is the case. Still, there is enough room for doubt in the situation that it is important for the full story to be available to the students, as the House Hosting Restriction affects us all.

Thus, I am calling for anybody who has actually contracted a band to play and actually lost student group money due to the house hosting restriction to come forward and prove that the lifting of the house hosting restriction for Wesfest is a result of the administration's desire to woo admitted students, rather than uphold previously contracted agreements.

If the information does come to light, I will be the first to call the administration on its bullshit and support Eclectic against the administration's decision. However, if this doesn't happen, then we, as the student body, have reason to believe that Eclectic is intentionally distorting the facts of the situation in order to appear sympathetic. I personally hope the former is true, but we, as critically minded students, cannot blind ourselves to the possibility of the latter.