Groups will host concert

After months of debate, the Social Planning and Events Committee and the University's three Greek umbrella organizations will finally bring a concert to the entire Penn community. "Breaking Down the Walls," a non-alcoholic event, will feature the Philadelphia-based funk band Tantra from 9:30 p.m. to midnight in the Annenberg Quad Thursday. Admission is free with a PennCard. The Bicultural InterGreek Council, the InterFraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council are co-sponsoring the event with SPEC. IFC Judicial Manager Josh Gottheimer, a co-coordinator of the event, said the concert is budgeted to cost about $5,000, which goes to pay for the band as well as security, publicity, technical set-up and clean-up. Last semester, the Undergraduate Assembly approved a $10,080 grant for the four groups to hold parties open to the entire campus. But planning for the event has since been modified. The scheduling of events was reduced from every other week to two large events for the semester, and it was decided that they would be held at a neutral site instead of in chapter houses as originally proposed. "It is a social event designed to bring together a very diverse crowd," said SPEC Vice President Mosi Bennett, a College and Engineering junior. "It is to promote a fun atmosphere where people from all backgrounds can enjoy themselves." According to Gottheimer, a College junior, the band was chosen because of its broad appeal. Gottheimer also said several Locust Walk fraternities will be having open parties after the concert. The individual chapters will determine the guidelines for their respective function. According to IFC Executive Vice President Matthew Gilroy, a Wharton senior, the concert is a tangible response to the Greek system's intentions to work together more. "We always pay lip service to it," he said. "But this time people are actually getting stuff done. It is a step in the right direction."

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