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Gangsta bluegrass fans set to attack?

Were gangsta bluegrass fans really a threat to Mary Washington College?

MIKE ZITZ •   Michael Zitz's archive •   E-mail Michael Zitz

Date published: 5/4/2003

By MICHAEL ZITZ

STUDENT LEADERS at Mary Washington College have a lot on their minds.

Last month, Jessica L. Rigel was very worried about collateral damage.

Not collateral damage from cruise missiles in Iraq.

No. Collateral damage from a bluegrass concert at MWC.

You see, if the Nickel Creek show was opened to the public, there could have been all kinds of havoc.

You know those gangsta bluegrass fans. They're trouble.

At least, that's what I'm told.

In a column published two weeks ago, I criticized the college for not having a blanket policy of opening shows to the public if tickets were left after they had been first offered to students.

Over the years, MWC has closed a number of shows by nationally known groups like Nickel Creek to the public. Other big shows have not been not formally closed, but were not publicized off-campus, creating the same effect.

The vast majority of colleges around the country have a policy of making tickets available to the public if concerts are not sold out to students by a set date.

But not MWC.

Mary Washington's rule of thumb seems to be that if there's a lot of interest in a band, shows generally shouldn't be open to the public. Because, you see, if there's interest, people might actually come.

Rigel, a member of Giant, the student entertainment committee at MWC, e-mailed me to explain that safety is the reason.

"I am not implying in any way that the people of Fredericksburg would harm anyone on campus, but if tickets were to sell out at the door and if we were forced to turn people away then what you would have is a lot of 'townies' with nothing to do wandering around on a college campus," Rigel wrote. "In any town, in any city, in any suburb, no matter how safe, this is not the wisest of decisions.

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Date published: 5/4/2003