It is everyone’s dream to have a boss with authenticity, integrity, compassion and love for what they do. These traits and more are exactly what Alley Madison — 4th year English major — brings to her position as UCLA’s Campus Events Commissioner. CEC puts on large-scale entertainment events on-campus (including Bruin Bash, The Enormous Activities Fair, etc.) As a member of CEC myself, I can attest to the absolute gem of a human being that Alley is, and the ways in which she has pushed CEC to spread positive and diverse content with our platform.
Alley has been a member of CEC since spring quarter of her freshman year, assuming her first position on the Public Relations staff. This year, Alley has taken on the challenge of leading the entire Campus Events Commission — a daunting task that she was eager to tackle! Her Campus had the chance to catch up with Alley to ask her about her time with CEC:
Her Campus: What initially drew you to Campus Events Commission and how did you get your start in this organization?
Alley Madison: Like most other UCLA students, I first heard about CEC through Bruin Bash! I promptly forgot which organizations put on the event at EAF though, so I didn’t apply until the spring — after seeing CEC’s relentless marketing all over my Facebook feed, and on Bruinwalk.
HC: What is the best part of your job, and conversely, the challenges or limitations of your position?
AM: The best part of my job is having a hand in curating the media which so many students have the potential to engage with. It’s a really unique opportunity, and there’s nothing more gratifying than seeing students feel heard or seen through the stories or individuals we give voice to through our platform. It can be challenging taking risks in order to bring new, lesser heard, voices to the forefront. As a group funded by student fees, our ostensible goal should be to provide all students with events which they will love. In truth, that’s impossible. So we opt to offer exciting, progressive content, which we hope as many students as possible will engage with and find value in. But in my experience, taking the risk is usually worth it.
HC: What has your leadership role in CEC taught you about yourself?
AM: This role has taught me how much I love the slack platform. But also, I’ve learned how much representation and inclusivity in entertainment matters to me. As students, we engage with the types of content CEC brings to campus nearly every day. As a white, able-bodied woman, I grew up seeing myself represented pretty well in most of these entertainment spheres. It wasn’t until I began engaging more critically with media, through CEC, that I really saw the glaring oversights in media representation, and CEC’s capacity to change that. In my personal experience, it is always more engaging, interesting and enlightening to a hear a story not told often enough, from a voice that has been historically repressed. As an audience member, I want to know those stories. And as a curator, I want to give a platform to them.
HC: What did it mean to you to be able to book two female acts (Charli XCX and Cupcakke) for an event as large as Bruin Bash?
AM: It was genuinely so gratifying. Witnessing Cupcakke sing about vaginas on a stage in front of 10,000 students and staff members is a moment I will never forget. And I’m serious, because I don’t think female sexuality is celebrated enough, or even at all, if it isn’t performed for men. So, to see Charli and Cupcakke both supported so fervently by our student body was beautiful. Not only did I feel proud of what I helped create that night, but I felt relieved knowing that so many of my peers appreciated the departure from a more traditional Bruin Bash lineup. I hope that the work we did this past summer set a precedent for future organizers of the event, and events of similar calibers on campus.
HC: What makes CEC unique from other organizations on campus?
AM: I think Campus Events Commission is different in that we work wholly and completely to serve students. We never have an event that is designed to promote or sell a specific message. We just create, promote and engage with really cool stuff, while trying to bring as many students into our work as possible. To be sure, there are other organizations who have similar pursuits, and we are by no means the only organization with these goals. But, we definitely have the greatest marketing on campus. No contest.
HC: What are you most looking forward to seeing CEC accomplish in the remainder of this school year?
AM: Moving forward, I’m really excited to see our programming continue to push against popular ideas of representation in entertainment. We have some really great events planned, and we are constantly working to be more intentional with our work. I’m also looking forward to seeing CEC bring students into our organization from spaces on campus which we may not always reach. Our staff undertakes a huge variety of projects, and there is so much space for creativity and development. It also gives students access to working within industries where it can be difficult to gain experience, like music or film. CEC is a resource to undergraduates, and I’d like to make that more clear in the remainder of the academic year.
HC: What do you hope to achieve in your position as Campus Events Commissioner before your term is finished?
AM: A specific goal is reviving the Jack Benny Award Show, a comedy honor given to a prominent comedian. I’m hoping to use that space to give some deserved love to a non-white, non-old, non-male comic, as there are so many and they are so often overlooked. On a more general level, I’m hoping to make our work more widely known on campus, so that as many students as possible can fit into Ackerman Grand Ballroom, Kerckhoff Grand Salon, James Bridges Theater, or Moore 100, and benefit from our events. I’d also like to publicize widely the accessibility specifications of each event, and ensure that we’re doing whatever we can to make our events accessible to all students. So be prepared to see more obnoxious yellow marketing all across campus!
HC: How can students join Campus Events Commission?
AM: We tend to hire every quarter, but it varies based on need. We will be hiring this fall, so stay tuned (on Facebook, uclacec.com, and Bruinwalk) for more information.
On behalf of Her Campus, we would like to thank Alley for her hard work and dedication to bringing only the best events to the UCLA student body. We cannot wait to see where her genuinely remarkable leadership takes Campus Events Commission in the remainder of this school year.