Dwayne Elliott and his events programming staff help students socialize outside the classroom.

by Kara Furlong
photography by Daniel Dubois and Jenny Mandeville

Dwayne Elliott is a fun-loving guy.

His musical tastes run the gamut from R&B and hip hop to country to alternative. A self-described “video game junkie,” he likes to plug in his PlayStation at home to unwind. And his absolute favorite pastime is hitting the links for a few rounds of golf with friends.

His wife, Shellian, teases that he’s “just a big, 6-foot-8 kid.”

But more than mere child’s play, Elliott’s interests come in handy on the job. As director of Student Campus Events charged with overseeing the Vanderbilt Programming Board’s Music Group – the student collective responsible for bringing national music acts to campus – Elliott’s easy-going nature and ability to relate to the undergraduate population is invaluable.

As a college student at Appalachian State University, Elliott was involved in everything from student government to marching band to programming for his residence hall. “I tell people I minored in student activities,” he said.

He showed such an aptitude for student leadership that the dean of students at Appalachian State suggested he pursue graduate studies in the field of higher education. When Elliott asked what this might entail, the dean replied, “Well, you’re basically doing it now.”

With a master’s degree under his belt, Elliott worked in student life positions at Appalachian State and Georgia State University before coming to Vanderbilt in 2004. Eventually promoted to director of new student and first-year programs, he ran Vanderbilt’s first-year experience programs until last fall.

“I love working with students, getting involved in their lives and seeing them grow,” Elliott said. “This spring marked my first graduating cohort since I started at Vanderbilt. When they were first-year students, I met most of their parents as they were dropping them off for orientation. Then at Commencement, I shook those same parents’ hands again.”

He appreciates the students’ journeys coming full circle. “Seeing them now, graduating, getting jobs – I am amazed at how time flies,” he said.

Elliott now works closely with the devoted students and staff who make up the Vanderbilt Programming Board. A function of the dean of students’ office, the board comprises the seven largest programming organizations on campus: Great Performances, Homecoming, the Speakers Committee, Special Activities, The Music Group, The VenUe and Vandy Fanatics. VPB’s mission is to plan and sponsor social, cultural, educational and recreational activities to enrich students’ university experience beyond the classroom.

If there’s one thing college students are passionate about, it’s their musical preferences. Part of Elliott’s job is corralling the wildly diverse tastes of The Music Group’s 15 members, who in turn must determine concert programming for the rest of campus.

“It’s like driving a bus full of people, and you have to select a radio station,” he explained. “From all those people you have to figure out – compromise – what radio station to listen to.”

The Music Group sends a survey to all undergraduates at the beginning of the academic year asking which artists they’d like to see. The group then culls the responses and makes decisions based on which acts are feasible to get and will appeal to a majority of the campus. The goal is to program artists from a variety of musical genres, hopefully exposing students to new sounds. Elliott likens this approach to letting them sample from a “musical food court.”

The Music Group’s work requires the coordination of schedules, the negotiation of contracts – and the ability to keep an even keel. Last fall, an artist slated to headline Commodore Quake – Vanderbilt’s annual Homecoming concert – cancelled as the event drew near. As the students scrambled to find a replacement, Elliott received a phone call from an agency representing hip hop giant Kanye West.

“They said, ‘Kanye is looking to play a college – do you want to book him?’” Elliott remembered. “His new album was dropping a month before he would be here, and Vanderbilt would be the first venue for him to test out music before his tour.”

Despite West’s reputation for being difficult, Elliott found him to be nothing but professional – perhaps to the point of perfectionism. A last-minute decision to revamp his play list had the Vanderbilt staff hurriedly copying new sheet music for West’s string ensemble.

“It was hectic, but he wanted to change it,” according to Elliott. “I said, ‘That’s fine with me! We’re getting more music than we paid for.’” West performed every song on his current album – playing nearly two hours – to a sold-out crowd at Memorial Gym. “I thought it was a top-notch show,” Elliot said.

Complications sometimes arise in the form of bad weather, as they did at this year’s Rites of Spring in April. The first evening of the two-day outdoor festival was threatened by thunderstorms and lightning.

“It was a downpour, but people still hung in there,” Elliott said. “We were really worried about having to cancel the first night. It was overwhelming, but we got through it.” Rites of Spring featured more than a dozen up-and-coming artists and several established acts, including The Avett Brothers, Lady Antebellum, Cupid, Colbie Caillat, Spoon, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Old Crow Medicine Show, Feist and Lil Jon.

Working in the trenches alongside the students allows them to see Elliott not only as an adviser, but also a mentor and friend. More than one graduating senior sought career advice from him as Commencement approached this spring.

“The students who apply to be on the programming board are very goal-oriented – visionaries who like to get things done,” he said. “It’s really intriguing to see the skill sets they bring to the process. They know what they want, they know how to get it, and they’re willing to work very hard. They also balance their schoolwork – Vanderbilt students in general do that very well.”

Elliott sees campus programming as a means to reward those efforts; a way to provide a better-rounded, more balanced college experience. And key to that, he said, is always keeping things light.

“My goal each day is to make at least two people laugh, because laughing is, well, fun,” he said. “Everyone needs laughter in their life. It’s good for the soul.”

To learn more about the Vanderbilt Programming Board, visit http://studentorgs.vanderbilt.edu/vpb/index.html.

Posted 07/01/08