Dear Guilford,

I am one of the three Serendipity Chairs on the Campus Activities Board who had the honor and privilege of planning and coordinating the annual event. It has been a long, fun and tedious process, as we have been preparing for this weekend for an entire year.

When I signed up to be the chairman, I honestly underestimated how much time and work goes into the planning. Every little detail must be accounted for, from organizing band voting to making sure we reserve trash cans from facilities at certain locations. I’ve gained a ton of valuable experience and I have succeeded in my initial goal — I wanted to provide an amazing time for my peers at an institute I care a heck of a lot about while getting to leave my mark by organizing an event that adds to the history of our school. It is something I will never forget.

Unfortunately, a lot of our work is behind the scenes, and students might not understand certain logistical and executive decisions we have had to make. We have heard some criticism about the Friday performances being placed inside the Alumni Gym, which is what led me to write this letter. I’d like to take this time to explain why we have chosen to do this so as to help you see where we are coming from. It is our goal to do whatever we can to make everyone happy and satisfied.

When we first began planning we were informed immediately that in years past, neighboring residents to the school have called in numerous noise complaints. There is a city ordinance to turn volume below a certain number of decibels — so low the performers are practically performing an acoustic set (poor RJD2 in 2011).

In the past, our school has basically ignored these regulations, let Serendipity shows last until our campus quiet hours of 1 a.m., and apologize when the Greensboro Police Department approaches us the next day. After Serendipity 2013, however, the GPD finally stopped threatening to fine us for breaking the city noise ordinance (fines exceeding $40,000); instead, they promised if it happened again they wouldn’t think twice to charge us.

So as to avoid these fines, we decided to compromise. We put one night of concerts in the Alumni Gym so we could rage through the night without any disturbances, and the other night we are having music outdoors until the 11 p.m. ordinance before making the crowd move indoors.

We saw this as being a good compromise and hope you can see where we are coming from. We apologize if this isn’t optimal — we want to be outdoors as much as anyone else! But we know that if you can look past this and make the best of being indoors that you are still going to have the time of your life. (There may or may not be lasers!)

Please be safe, take care of one another, make the best of every moment, have fun and just be merry! Love your community; we’ve got a special one. You have so many fun activities planned just for YOU! We really hope you enjoy. Love to all.