Jazz Up Your Campus

At West Chester University, even though we already have jazz on our campus, there is always room for improvement. Every year, the School of Music hosts a jazz week, which includes not only student and faculty performances, but also performances by the Army Blues, the Cab Calloway Orchestra and the Glenn Miller Orchestra, to name a few.

While all this jazz is presented, only a small population of the entire student body experiences jazz because it is kept mostly within the music community. In order to further spread jazz to my campus, we need to advertise jazz week better and secondly, make jazz week seem more inclusive.

In the School of Music at West Chester, there are fewer than 500 students, but there are just fewer than 12,000 students in the entire student body. Since jazz week is primarily advertised in the music building, a small population of people sees this. Although jazz week is mentioned as it comes up in small print in some school newsletters, it could be publicized better. It is very simple to hang more posters around campus where the other academic majors travel frequently. This way, students will have a better idea of where and when jazz week is.

Secondly, all the concerts at West Chester seem like they are only inviting to the music students who know each other and tend to travel in little groups all around campus. In order to make the concerts seem more inclusive, the music students need to go outside of the music bubble and spread their own interest of music, specifically jazz to the rest of the student body. To do this, jazz students should set up a table outside of the main building on campus and pass out information about jazz and a schedule of jazz week.

Other student organizations do this same venue throughout the year to spread information. By doing this for jazz, the rest of the student body will feel like the music concerts are not just for the music majors, and having some information may pique their interest.

Although West Chester University of Pennsylvania already has jazz on the campus, the interest does not reach very far on campus. In order to generate more interest about jazz within the rest of the student body, the annual jazz week should be further advertised, and information should be passed out to the rest of the student body the week before jazz week.

Jazz week at West Chester University is scheduled for Feb. 28 through March 2.