The Council for University Programming (CUP) at Northeastern is responsible for bringing big names like Jon Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Zach Galifinakis, Drake, Jimmy Eat World, Ludacris and Tucker Max to campus.
Leading CUP is junior music industry major, Eric Frankenberg. As President of CUP, Frankenberg works with other CUP members, faculty members and other student groups to help organize some of the most popular events on campus. CUP helps bring celebrities, artists, musicians and music groups to perform or share experiences with Northeastern students, as well as organizes movie screenings and week-long events like Springfest. Most CUP events attract such a large audience that they take place in AfterHours, Blackman Auditorium and Matthew’s Arena.
Frankenberg joined CUP his freshman year and has served on the Executive Board for three years. In 2009, he spearheaded Springfest Week (Springfest to the Rescue) and was Vice President of Marketing in fall 2010. Now, he manages the coveted position of CUP President.
Frankenberg completed his second co-op in New York City at Glassnote Records last spring, and will be taking on another co-op this summer in Los Angeles at Q Prime, an artist management company (Muse and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are two of their clients).
“My favorite people CUP has brought to campus in previous years are Zach Galifinakis, Jon Stewart, Drake and Daniel Tosh,” Frankenberg said. “This year we’ve brought Andy Samberg and Patton Oswalt [among other artists/celebrities], and now we have Springfest coming up soon,” he said.
Frankenberg (right) with Andy Samberg in November, 2010.
Springfest 2011’s theme is “NUTORIOUS: The Good, The Bad and the Huskies,” and will consist of an obstacle course, a presentation from Steve-O of Jackass, a local improv group performance, a concert in AfterHours by Tokyo Police Club, a night of comedy with Joel Mchale of The Soup, and of course, the main event: The Springfest Concert. Wiz Khalifa, Third Eye Blind, Taking Back Sunday and Mac Miller will perform for thousands of students in Matthew’s Arena on Saturday, April 9.
“I think students are most excited about the Springfest concert, because we sold over 4,000 tickets in under a half hour,” Frankenberg said. “But personally, I’m most excited for Tokyo Police Club.”
Frankenberg hopes to stay involved with CUP during his senior year, and will continue working with different artists and learning more about music management throughout his co-op this summer.
What would Frankenberg do if he could bring anyone he wanted to campus?
Put Kanye West, Larry David, Charlie Sheen and Tracy Morgan onstage at Matthew’s Arena, “And just see what happens.”