Written by Ava Bramlett // Graphic by Makayla McDonald
Campus Life will host its first concert of the school year as part of the Homecoming festivities taking place this weekend. Tonight, pop artist Brooke Alexx will perform at 9:30 in the Reynolds Recital Hall. Admission to the concert is free and open to everyone.
Director of Campus Life Jane Chandler said she discovered Alexx last year on social media and played one of her songs for a couple of student workers before deciding to reach out to the artist. Chandler said Alexx’s music reminded her of other popular contemporary artists students enjoy listening to.
“I actually discovered her on TikTok sometime last year within 2022 and just really liked her music,” Chandler said. “It’s very Olivia Rodrigo, Tate Mcrae, just kind of young, fun [and] poppy.”
Finding Harding-appropriate artists to come perform can be a bit of a challenge, Chandler said. To make the process easier, Chandler said Harding uses a booking agent for all concerts on campus.
“We’ve worked with the same booking agent Harding has for 15 years,” Chandler said. “She knows Harding. I don’t have to explain who we are, the content we’re looking for, what our budget is [or] anything like that.”
Senior Brenley Colbert serves as sports engagement director for Campus Life and said she is looking forward to the concert.
“I’m excited,” Colbert said. “It will be a good concert to have Homecoming week and outside because it’s more upbeat.”
Junior Evan Carter serves as small events coordinator for Campus Life and said he thinks students will enjoy Alexx’s performance tonight even if it is their first time hearing her music.
“I think the people who show up will like her,” Carter said. “Even if you don’t know the words, it’s still a lot of fun music.”
Tonight’s concert is not the only concert Campus Life plans to host this year, Chandler said. Students should expect at least two more concerts before the end of the school year.
“We actually have one [concert] that we’re announcing this weekend,” Chandler said. “I won’t tell you who it is … We’re going to announce it on Monday [Nov. 6], and that concert is coming up in a few weeks at the end of November.”
Colbert said she is excited to announce the next concert that will take place this month and that she thinks students will share in her excitement.
“It’s coming so soon, and I’m very excited for students to hear about it,” Colbert said. “There’s a good population at Harding that will love this artist and does love this artist.”
Colbert said she appreciates how involved the student body has become around campus. She said students often approach her with ideas.
“I started having people come up to me in class,” Colbert said. “They were just throwing random ideas at me. I think it’s the first time that students can see the Campus Life workers and reach out to them.”
According to Carter, the main purpose of Campus Life is to create opportunities for students to get to know each other and build friendships, and it has been especially helpful for students who are not in a social club to become involved in campus activities.
“I know a lot of people make friends at Campus Life events, and that’s just what we want,” Carter said. “Our biggest goal is just [to] get people involved and get connected.”
Brooke Alexx will be the first of multiple artists to perform at Harding this school year as Campus Life continues to plan events to bring the student body closer together. If interested in future concerts and events at Harding, visit the Campus Life Instagram page @hardingcampuslife to keep up to date.
