The Student Activity Council (SAC) has been holding concerts since the early 2000s, inviting artists to campus for a night students will remember. In the last couple of years, Jason Derulo (2021-2022), Kenny Beats (2022-2023), and Rich the Kid (2023-2024) have performed on campus. During the 2024–2025 academic year, funding issues prevented the concert from coming together.
This year, the SAC Executive Board is returning with a committee that supports them in preparing for this momentous event. The process initially starts when students vote for a genre on SAC’s Instagram poll, sent around June or July, for the following year, and the top three are sent back to students to vote upon until a clear majority is found. This year, the genre is indie/alternative rock.
Once a genre is chosen, the committee works to select a few artists to contact. Afterwards, the SAC Executive Board communicates with Krystal Aguilar and Michael Davis, the Assistant Director and the Director of the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, to allocate the budget and prepare a rough sketch of the logistics.
In past years when Rick the Kid performed, WJTB, the radio club on campus, had an opening act followed by the artist’s one-hour show. About 400–500 students attended, which was lower than expected. Jessica Varma, a third-year Forensic Science student and SAC president, is hopeful and expects at least 2,000 students to purchase tickets for the 2025-2026 concert, which would represent a 75% sold-out crowd. She also expects a similar format to Rich the Kid’s with the event having one main show.
Typically, the budget each year is upwards of $100,000. The majority of the budget is spent on commissioning the artist and giving them requested items including food and beverages. The remainder of the budget goes to a few categories: merchandising and marketing, the production team in charge of preparing the stage, the Department of Public Safety, and an additional security team. Varma describes the security features as covering “the whole nine yards.”
The name of the artist will be released on Feb. 16, which will be the first day students can purchase a ticket. NJIT students are allowed to bring a plus one who must be at least 18 years old. All tickets must be purchased ahead of time; no tickets can be bought at the door. Tickets will be available up to a week before the concert. This year, the concert will be on April 29, 2026 in the Wellness and Events Center in the evening, starting around 6 or 7 p.m.
