Saturday’s Spring Thing event was successful and one of the most positive events on campus in years. That success should cement a permanent activity for SIUC students to look forward to each spring.

The event simply was a performance by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, but that alone drew about 9,000 people to McAndrew Stadium. Although the number was less than the expected 20,000, the turnout was good considering the rainy, windy weather early Saturday. The attendance of Spring Thing points toward a need and demand for similar events.

Students were remarkably well-behaved. In light of speculation, it was proudly reported there were no arrests, and, as SIUC Police Lt. Andrew Smith said, the crowd was real friendly and well behaved. If the University was using this event as a test for future events then it is safe to say, we passed.

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The last spring event that SIUC sponsored was the disastrous Spring Fest that, after a few years, exploded into a drunken melee. The University has been very adamant about sponsoring another spring festival. Spring Fest caused the administrators to lose faith in the student body, which the students did not help by pulling infamous Halloween stunts.

SIUC Chancellor Don Beggs said Monday that the organizers of Spring Thing should be proud of their accomplishment. And even though Beggs was out of town Saturday, he was concerned enough about the event’s success to call Vice Chancellor for Administration Jim Tweedy for an update. After receiving a positive report from Tweedy, Beggs said Monday that the students have demonstrated through the past year and this event that they can behave in a responsible way.

The entire campus should take note of Beggs’ confidence in the student body. Students, faculty and administrators should begin investing in future events, and the administration should not hesitate to allow and assist future attempts. Carbondale and the University are at their finest when the weekends are packed with positive and highly visible events. Maybe there should be more focus groups and task forces working to organize promotional and entertaining activities like Spring Thing rather than creating traditions and regulating a dead Halloween celebration.

The burden of organizing campus events should not be placed on administrators and SPC alone. The entire University community needs to contribute by performing as they did Saturday.

It was good to see RSOs contribute both physically and economically to the concert, but they need to become more involved. Out of the more than 400 Registered Student Organizations on this campus, not one had a table set up to help promote their organization.

The Ziggy Marley show was done by the students, with a little help from the city. It was done to show the school that it could be done. If students themselves were able to accomplish such a successful event, imagine what could happen if the University’s administrators played a bigger role.