This spring, student leaders have planned a joyous culmination to Springfest with a big concert in Matthews Arena featuring a major performer. I am keenly aware of the importance of this event as a celebration of the richness and excitement of student life at Northeastern. I know how much work and planning has gone into this concert.

But timing is everything in life, and unfortunately this spring is a time when our university and our students are being widely criticized for the irresponsible behavior that followed the Patriots’ Super Bowl victory. The world is watching Northeastern right now. Many are rightly dissapointed and angry at what they have seen recently. What they now see is terribly important for all of us.

This is not the time to proceed with our plans as if nothing has happened. This is a time to show our neighbors, our city and the world that Northeastern is a major university with talented, responsible and mature students who are here for an education that will help them make the world a better place. To proceed with the planned concert would be to ignore the challenges of this moment and to miss an opportunity to demonstrate our most important values.

Accordingly, I have decided that we must postpone the planned Springfest concert in order to focus our attention on our first responsibility, which is to reaffirm the valuable contribution that this university makes to the community. I call upon our student leaders and all members of the Northeastern University student community to join with me and other leaders in the administration, faculty and staff to plan programs and activities that demonstrate our steadfast commitment to being a contstructive, contributing presence in this city.

I know the decision to postpone the concert will be a dissapointment for many of you. It is unfortunate that the entire student body must pay the price for a small percentage of their peers and suffer the loss of what should have been a memorable and enjoyable part of their college experience. There wil be time for a concert. But for now we must attend to other and more pressing business. Please join me in demonstrating why Northeastern is one of the top universities in this country.

— Richard Freeland is the president of Northeastern University.