This Friday, Oct. 16, TCU’s Student Government Association is bringing The Chainsmokers to campus for their annual fall concert.
The fall concert is a tradition hosted by SGA for students, faculty and staff. SGA announced The Chainsmokers as the fall performer back in August, and their Instagram announcement video received over 52,000 views. Since then, campus has been buzzing with excitement, but many students are unaware of all of the behind-the-scenes planning and execution that it takes for the fall concert to run smoothly.
A TCU student watches SGA’s fall concert artist announcement video from her phone
Planning for the fall concert normally begins the summer before classes start in August. However, this year, planning began last spring because SGA President, Titus Fagan ran unopposed. In the past, students have been able to vote on the genre of the artist, but this year, the focus was on bringing a performer to campus whom students would recognize.
“I met with the student affairs people to start identifying people that might be cool to bring to campus. Somebody that people will know, somebody that people kind of grew up with, and that’s The Chainsmokers,” Fagan said.
Fagan said Kelly Lee, director of student activities and live event manager, handles much of the planning and coordination. After they selected a genre and artist, Lee began contacting the artist’s representatives to discuss costs and scheduling.
According to the 2026-27 SGA budget, the budget for student body events this year is $330,000. The budget was set by the previous administration. Every year, the student body treasurer creates a budget which then must be approved by a vote of two-thirds of the SGA House of Representatives.
Funding comes from the student body fee, which was just voted on to be increased in 2030. Fagan said “we don’t get to choose the price, so we just figure out what artists are charging a price that we can afford.”
Fagan said he is “very pleased” that The Chainsmokers will be performing this year. “We’re super happy that they want to come and perform and create an awesome experience for our students.”
Planning an event as large as the fall concert comes with challenges. “The biggest challenge is just all the different pieces that come together to make it happen,” Fagan said.
The stage must be built, which requires working with a company to get all of the materials, and then going through the process of building the stage and putting barricades in place. Then security must be organized for safety. Recently, the SGA House passed a bill allocating additional funds for concert generators. The event must also be marketed to students through posters and social media videos.
“It really is a gift to do it, but there’s just a lot of different things that you have to navigate,” said Fagan.
Fagan said the fall concert is a “great example of why our university does the student experience so well.” He said SGA prioritizes the event because it puts students at the center of campus life and brings people together.
The concert “brings together our community and reminds people why it’s so awesome to be a Horned Frog,” Fagan said.
The concert will take place from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, on the lawn of the Dee J. Kelly Alumni Center. Students get in free with their TCU ID.