The past Runner Nights concert featuring famous rapper Tyga had the biggest turn out so far for any concert at CSU Bakersfield. Some students who attended expressed their concerns regarding safety during the concert.

Sociology student Gricelda Pacheco said that it was a great event. “It was kind of crowded, but I still had fun at the concert,” she said.

On the other hand, Jessica Banuelos who is a senior majoring in psychology reported feeling worried about the rowdiness of the crowd.

“It needs to be organized where people aren’t getting hurt,” Banuelos said.

Pacheco mentioned that even though some people kept pushing each other in the middle of the crowd, she did not experience any major issues and that she felt safe the whole time at the event.

“Security at the event checked everyone really well at the entrance and there was also security inside just making sure everything was okay at all times” Pacheco said.

Campus Programming Coordinator Afaf Aldhulay clarified if there was any situation that could have put the 1,500 CSUB students who attended at risk throughout the event.

“It was crowded and some people were pushing each other mostly because everyone wanted to be standing in the front,” Aldhulay said. “Wanting to be in the middle of the crowd and wanting to be in the front for any concert will usually involve the risk of people pushing each other.”

Aldhulay stated that when planning an event, one of the main concerns for the Campus Programming department is safety.

“We had about 13 security guards and about five or six police officers. We always try making sure that students are safe at all times, that we have proper security making sure that students are not taking in anything they are not supposed to take in,” she said.

Aldhulay also mentioned that students are not allowed to drink at the Runner Nights concerts.

“We don’t provide any alcohol, we don’t allow any alcoholic beverages in. Security checks all students and their bags at the entrance,” said Aldhulay.

Although nobody was hurt and there were no situations where students were unsafe, Aldhulay said that there were two incidents involving intoxicated students.

“One student was trying to get in intoxicated and obviously he was not able to enter and the other one I am assuming that the student drank right before and got sick inside,” she said.

According to Aldhulay, an ambulance is always on standby just in case anything happens.

“Both students who were intoxicated were taken to the hospital. We checked on them afterwards and they were both okay,” Aldhulay said.

Something that the Campus Programming department plans on working on for future events is reducing the wait time to get in.

“We know that the check in process was very lengthy, and that it took students a while to get in, so we want to find a way to cut the wait time but also ensure that students are still safe,” Aldhulay said.

“If there is any feedback from any of the students that attended, our office is open for them to come in and talk to us or they can email us and let us know their concerns. We definitely take it into consideration every year when we start planning the event. We always think about the things that we can do to improve from previous years,” Aldhulay said.

CSUB Campus Programing also sent out a survey to all the students that attended the event hoping to get students’ feedback and use that to work on making things better for everyone during future events.