Letter to the editor: SGA brought back your Homecoming concert

Alexander Sutton, Student Body President 2023 – 2024

Santana Way, Student Body Vice President 2023 – 2024

Promise made, promise kept. When we campaigned for President and Vice President a year ago, we promised to bring back Panthermonium, FIU’s annual Homecoming Concert. Here we are a year later, and we are proud that Panthermonium will once again take place in Fall of 2024, after two years of cancellation.

In 2022, Panthermonum was scheduled to take place, but had to be canceled due to low ticket sales. After that, SGA decided to cancel Panthermonium 2023 as well, by giving less money to Homecoming. That was done with the intention of using money the most efficiently, but it meant that students would be without a Homecoming concert for a second year in a row.

When we took office in May of 2023, we worked hard to try to save Panthermonium for Fall of 2023. Our plan was to use SGA’s saved up reserve funds to allocate the money that Homecoming needed to bring Panthermonium back that Fall. Unfortunately, it was too late — concerts need to be planned at least six months out, and we were cutting it too close. We failed to bring back Panthermonium 2023, but only after months of trying our best.

However, this past February, we had the opportunity to decide the budget of Homecoming for the upcoming year. Although Panthermonium 2023 didn’t happen, the power to bring back Panthermonium for Fall of 2024 was in the hands of SGA.

So, we allocated the funds to Homecoming that they need to put on Panthermonium 2024. We allocated a total of $640,000 to Homecoming, and specified that at least $375,000 of that money has to be spent on the concert.

Now, it’s up to the Homecoming Council to put these funds to work and make Panthermonium 2024 a smashing success. And it’s up to the next members of SGA to find the funds to make Panthermonium happen in 2025 – so hold your leaders accountable, and make sure that SGA keeps funding concerts for many more years to come!

Panthers, it has been our honor to serve as your President and Vice President. We could not be prouder to say that we have made it possible for Panthermonium to come back for Fall of 2024. So Panthers, buy your tickets as soon as they go on sale — and we’ll see you there! Who knows… maybe Santana will even get on stage again.

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