UMaine Preparing for National ‘Campus Consciousness Tour’

University of Maine student and staff volunteers are busy making last-minute preparations for Thursday, Oct. 20, when UMaine hosts the Campus Consciousness Tour, a national initiative to raise awareness of ecological and sustainability issues among college students.

The events will feature a concert by Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, producer and performer Janelle Monáe, considered one of today’s hottest emerging artistic entrepreneurs, with her own record label, The Wondaland Arts Society. She’ll perform at 8 p.m. in the Collins Center for the Arts. Discounted ticket prices are $12 for students and $20 for the public.

“We’d really like a lot of students to come to this show,” says project coordinator Jose Roman, an assistant vice president of student entertainment. “They’ll get a really great performance. She’s a great performer.”

Opening for Monáe will be a band from her record label — “fun.” — which will perform a free acoustical concert at 2:30 p.m. on a stage on the UMaine Mall near a tent eco-village for sponsors of the event, which include REVERB, Brita, Ben & Jerry’s, Silk, Oxfam’s GROW campaign, and Fair Trade University, among others.

Campus Consciousness Tour is organized by REVERB, a Portland, Maine-based non-profit organization rooted within the music and environmental communities to encourage fans to take direct action toward a sustainable future, the organization says. REVERB was founded by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and her husband Adam Gardner, a guitarist for the band Guster.

The UMaine Green Team and any other entity on campus committed to sustainability initiatives are invited to attend and participate, Roman says.

Events planned on the mall throughout the day are designed to attract the entire UMaine community and the public. Prizes from a “prize wheel” include signed posters and Meet and Greet passes with Janelle Monáe.  Monáe is engaged in a nationwide tour specifically to promote campus consciousness. Other national acts, including Guster, Phish, Sheryl Crow, the Dave Mathews Band, and Jack Johnson, periodically participate in the tours.

“The university prides itself in being green,” says Roman, “so I’d like to help the university’s image in going in that direction. We’re trying to get people to attend this thing. This is a huge event.”

Brita plans to give away more than 500 reusable Nalgene water bottles in an effort to reduce use of plastic water bottles, Roman says. The company also will have filtered water-filtration stations set up on the mall, he says.

In addition, the day’s events include the filming and production of the mtvU show “Dean’s List,” which also promotes sustainability efforts on college campus across the nation.

Doors for the Janelle Monáe and fun. concerts open at the CCA at 7 p.m. to give concert-goers an opportunity to visit with event sponsors, who will be set up with information booths in the CCA atrium. Concert tickets are available through the CCA box office, online, and also will be available during the day on the mall.

Activities will move indoors to Memorial Union in the event of bad weather.

Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756