For the second year in a row, Back to the Brook will not be happening.
This evening, Stony Brook’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) posted on its social media accounts that the university’s annual fall semester concert had been canceled yet again. In its official statement, USG stated that the decision to cancel Back to the Brook was made because its usual venue, the Island Federal Credit Union Arena, will be unavailable as a result of current construction efforts being made to the arena’s basketball court.
“Despite this development, we want to ensure that you get the most out of your Student Activity Fee. We will focus on bringing both a bigger and better production to campus for our Spring Brookfest concert – and introduce new programming and initiatives throughout the year,” USG said in its official statement. Included was a link to a Google Forms survey regarding USG Event feedback, however, Back to the Brook and Brookfest were not listed.
Stony Brook Director of Athletics, Shawn Heilbron, first announced an upcoming renovation for the Island Federal Credit Union Arena’s basketball court on Twitter in July, and construction began in August. Aside from an aesthetic makeover, the updated basketball court will also have to comply with the NCAA’s new three-point line regulations. The NCAA announced back in June that the three-point line would be moved from 20 feet, 9 inches to the international distance of 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches.
Last year, USG canceled Back to the Brook a week before its scheduled date due to low sales. Only 24 tickets were sold for planned headliner Ashanti, and the concert’s original lead act, Teyana Taylor, had pulled out two weeks before due to unforeseen circumstances.
Stony Brook University has hosted concerts in various locations in the past. Mac Miller played 2013’s Back to the Brook at the Staller Steps, while 2014’s Brookfest featuring Childish Gambino and Diplo was held at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. More recently, Brookfest in 2017, headlined by DNCE, Joey Bada$$ and Alison Wonderland, was held at the Student Activities Center Parking Lot.
The Statesman reached out to the USG President, junior political science major Shaheer Khan, and the Vice President of Student Life and health sciences major Hadi Mohammed, amongst others in USG but none replied to a request for comment before the article was published.
