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Music filled the ears of more than 1,000 students Saturday as the Waves of Mercy benefit concert rocked Alumni Park. Christian band Caedmon’s Call and Mark Schultz headlined the event, which entertained the large crowd made up of Pepperdine students, faculty and others young and old.
Although profits were intended for research into cancer and reflexive sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSDS), the concert failed to break even on the estimated $50,000 needed to pay for the event. About half of the more than 1,000 in attendance were students.
“It accomplished everything we had in mind,” SGA President Jason Palmer said. “It changed people’s lives, made thousands of people more aware of these diseases and it encouraged people with chronic illnesses.”
Palmer’s mother France is one of millions who suffer from RSDS, a disease of the nervous system that has no cure.
Final attendance figures and ticket sales were not available at press time, but an estimated $40,000 will be covered using SGA funds, Student Activity funds and donations. Junior Sen. Scott Withycombe said concert ticket sales were between $18,000 and $20,000. Student Activities paid between $5,000 and $8,000, the Lilly Grant gave about $3,000, while $1,000 was donated by a church.
“The whole idea was to pay for costs and then donate the proceeds to charity and spread awareness for the cause,” Programming Board Chair Jimmy Hutcheson said. “I believe we’ve almost accomplished that.”
At Wednesday’s SGA meeting, a motion was passed affirming that $10,000 was the maximum amount that SGA would pay for the event.
“The motion is going to turn into a resolution and we hope the resolution is binding,” Withycombe said. “And we hope that if there is some sort of outstanding fees, that we’ll be able to work with the Administration and other organizations on campus, like Student Activities, to find funds to pay off that debt.”
Palmer said donations are still being collected.
Some SGA members, including Withycombe and Hutcheson questioned the addition of Mark Schultz to the event, which added another $10,000 for his performance and travel expenses.
“From the start, I advised that we shouldn’t have Mark Schultz,” Hutcheson said. “Because we had Mark Schultz, we weren’t able to make money for the charities. I felt that his cost outweighed his benefit.”
The decision to include Shultz in the event was made by Palmer and SGA Vice President Nicole Garcia during the summer. SGA senators and other members were not involved in the decision, which is not required by the SGA constitution.
“We felt like we got the best artists that were available on that date,” Palmer said. He thought Schultz was worth the money because “each group has a different style and reach people in different ways.”
In fact, some at the concert preferred Schultz to the more recognized Caedmon’s Call. But almost all in attendance seemed to enjoy all three acts, including opening performer Josh Kauffman, who is also music director at Malibu Presbyterian Church.
“I thought Mark Schultz was a great entertainer, and had a better stage presence than Caedmon’s Call,” freshman Smith said. “Josh Kauffman had some really original songs. He was doing some stuff most people aren’t doing yet.”
Others agreed about the concert’s success, including Dean of Student Affairs Mark Davis.
“I think it was a wonderful opportunity to bring the Pepperdine community together, to have a great time and support a couple of wonderful causes,” Davis said. “Everybody had a great time together tonight.”
The concert was still a benefit and after Schultz’s performance, a half-hour intermission was used to educate the crowd about cancer and RSDS. After capturing the hearts and attention of students at last week’s Wednesday Convocation, France Palmer described the pain she endures everyday because of RSDS.
Between 2 to 3 million people in the United States suffer from the disease, but few across the country have ever heard of the syndrome that attacks the nervous system. Symptoms usually begin after an injury, and in France Palmer’s case, it started after slipping on ice and hurting her shoulder.
“It’s a constant, relentless, burning hot pain,” France Palmer said. At Convo, she described that some afflicted with the disease turn to suicide to relieve the ceaseless pain.
“No matter what (the ticket sales) end up being, we raised awareness on campus,” SGA Secretary Elizabeth Elliott said. “Knowing that we have students on this campus that care about and are passionate about helping others is what we strove to do.”
Palmer agreed and was happy with the concert despite it failing to make any extra ticket revenue to donate to charity.
“You need the money to find a cure, but you also need the passion,” Palmer said. “People who bought the tickets supported the concert as a whole, so they still supported each of the causes. Maybe not financially, but they supported an event that raised awareness for the cause.”
SGA received several e-mails from victims of RSDS, who praised the association for their work in putting on the concert. In one e-mail, an RSDS sufferer from Texas wrote, “I must say that I am typing through tears running down my face, that teens could have such a heart.
Submitted September 18, 2003
MALIBU, CA
