Students from BW's arts management and music industry associations witnessed one of rock and roll's greatest events — the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
This year, approximately 40 music industry and arts management students were invited to attend the October 19 induction ceremony for free as guests of the Rock Hall. Although some BW seniors attended the ceremony a few years back when it was in Cleveland, most of the students were experiencing it for the first time.
Junior digital marketing major Gianna Cafasso '26 was among them. "This was my first time at the induction ceremony," said Cafasso. "I thought it was incredibly cool to get to attend such a special event."
One of the biggest draws to this event was the chance to see a wide list of celebrities, like Zendaya, Jack Black and Dave Chappelle, present awards and legendary inductees, like Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton and Ozzy Osbourne.
"I kept thinking about how I might not get to be that close to some of those celebrities ever again, and that it was such an amazing opportunity to be there," Cafasso said.
For music industry and arts management & entrepreneurship students, attending the event was a good look at what goes into awards ceremonies as well as what exactly goes into a large-scale production with a variety of acts.
"Besides the concert experience, I learned so much just by viewing the production," said junior arts management & entrepreneurship student Jacob Seifert '26. "It was like seeing a movie being filmed. You never appreciate or even think of everything that goes on in the background of it."
Some students got a chance to see backstage, depending on their seats.
"Obviously, all these things go on, but a viewer from home would never think of these things until they see it with their own eyes," added Seifert.
"The induction provided me with some insight into how much effort and time goes into a musical ceremony and performance like this," Cafasso said. "I've never gotten to see this amount of behind-the-scenes work. It's truly unbelievable to see how much work is happening."
Follow along as arts management major Alyson Hand '25 outlines her day as a Rock Hall intern and guest at the big awards ceremony in this post for the BW Arts Management Association Instagram account.
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Content for this story originally appeared in The Exponent, BW's student newspaper. Its edited version is used here with permission. Photo courtesy of Maya Penvose '25.
