By Marian Daniells, News Staff
“Don’t be a hater, come see Hader,” read the posters promoting comedian Bill Hader’s visit to campus tonight.
Northeastern’s Council for University Programs (CUP) and Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) present An Evening with Bill Hader: Conversation, Clips, and Q&A tonight at 7 p.m. in Blackman Auditorium.
Hader, a regular cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” also had roles in “Superbad” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”
But some students said they are wary of attending, given the disappointment of the last event coordinated by CUP. After fellow SNL cast member Andy Samberg’s visit Nov. 19, students expressed frustration that the event was not marketed as a Q&A.
“I think the Bill Hader event will probably be better,” sophomore international business major Kelly Winter said. “I heard Andy [Samberg] sucked.”
Middler marketing major Jordan Charlton said that the Samberg event wasn’t what she expected it to be.
“It was funny, at times,” she said. “But mostly boring.”
Frustrated students also wrote commentary on the event’s Facebook page.
“Refund,” wrote one sophomore Northeastern student on Facebook. Nine others liked his comment.
The Facebook event page for Bill Hader’s visit tonight makes clear that the event is a Q&A.
CUP President Eric Frankenberg, who led Samberg’s Q&A and whose organization co-sponsored both the Samberg and Hader events, did not respond to requests for a comment yesterday.
Middler graphic design major and co-marketing chair for CAC’s Relay for Life committee, Brittany Miller said she attended the Samberg night and was worried the Bill Hader event was going to be the same thing.
“I immediately afterwards spoke to my co-chair,” she said. “We were very worried, but just want to make the most of it.”
Miller helped organize the Hader event with her co-chair.
Though she said she thought An Evening with Andy Samberg was less than ideal, “I was really hurt when people said… [that tonight’s event was] a waste of money and how people are really skeptical.”
Miller said she hopes to have a successful event by ensuring that students know it is formatted as a Q&A.
They made sure the Facebook group promoted that it was going to be the same format as the Andy Samberg event, but in a different setting.
“It will be a very different atmosphere,” she said.
Instead of being in a large arena like Samberg was, tonight’s event is in Blackman, a setting Miller said was more “intimate.”
The event, which Miller said was initially called “Laugh in the Face of Cancer,” is also a philanthropy night, meant to raise awareness about Northeastern’s second Relay for Life, scheduled for March 26, 2011. After the event, students will have the opportunity to learn more about the relay, or sign up or register a team.
Tickets for Bill Hader are $12.50 for NU+1 and $17.50 for a general admission. They can be purchased at the ticket counter in Ell Hall, through the myTickets tab on myNEU or at tickets.neu.edu.
