New Etherredge manager pushes accessibility for all students

Michael St. John, the house manager and publicity coordinator for the Etherredge Center, is leading the venue into their thirty-second Cultural Series. 

This year’s cultural series will be the last one arranged by Jack Benjamin, the former chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, before his retirement in July.  

St. John said, “The Cultural Series is going to start with Celtic music and going to finish with some Irish music. Three out of the six will have live dancers as well.” 

“Doro Wat Jazz Band is bringing dancers from New Orleans,” he continued. “Havana Cuba All Stars will be bringing dancers from Cuba on Valentine’s Day, and then the Step Crew March 22nd is bringing Ottawa step which is something that they do, and they also combine several different types of dancing.” 

St. John said that his goals and aspirations for the next cultural series is to be able to “work and modify on getting a more inclusive crowd, which is something [he is] working on in the marketing field, as well as Paul who is going to be working on booking with trying to get more variety of demographics in the building. This year it’s a goal of ours to see everyone represented in the crowd.”  

St. John and his colleagues want to make the events of the Cultural Series as accessible as possible for students. He said, “I graduated in 2016, so I know how it is. It seems like students want to come to the events, but they are often priced out. So, this year especially I know there will be a lot of promotional deals centered around students and other various groups. Keep on the lookout for those because there will be a lot of flash sales where you can get tickets for next to nothing. It will be posted on our social media pages.”  

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