UW-Madison administrators announced the university will not sponsor any Halloween-related events that occur on campus, rejecting Associated Students of Madison's proposal to have a large national act perform in the campus area.
\The university had absolutely no interest in allowing any Halloween-related events to be held on their property,"" said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.
The proposed concert would have featured a national touring act and would have been located in a neutral area such as Camp Randall or the Kohl Center.
""We had hoped to have a concert to pull people from State Street and give them something to entertain them so that State Street wasn't so crowded with people just standing around with nothing to do,"" ASM Halloween Chair and UW-Madison Sophomore Kristina Mueller said.
University spokesperson John Lucas said the university does not want to make the event any larger by supporting events such as high-profile concerts.
""Our idea is that the big events that ASM has proposed, we're not on-board for that,"" he said. ""No one wants another large event that would give people reason to travel to Madison for a Halloween celebration.""
However, university, city and police officials finalized plans Monday to install stadium-style lighting and speaker systems to play music and announcements on State Street with hopes that such distractions will set the mood and deter violent, riotous behavior after bar time.
UW-Madison will provide UW police officers, fund portable restrooms as well as part of the $16,000 projected cost of two stadium-style lighting trucks for State Street Halloween weekend.
""[University officials] have come up with some financial assistance that is very important to us,"" Verveer said.
