The excitement for this year’s Juice Jam was palpable. Students rushed to buy tickets, alumni made plans to visit for the weekend and outfits were carefully thought out.

Andrew Idarraga, University Union’s current president and a senior in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication’s Bandier Program, was relieved by the positive reactions to co-headliners A$AP Ferg and Playboi Carti.

The energy was a stark contrast from last year, when UU faced criticism for choosing Diplo, a popular DJ and member of Major Lazer, as the headliner. Students were, in large, disappointed.

“Chances are, we weren’t really represented in the discussions of who we wanted as a performer,” said Ryan Bolton, then a senior computer engineering major at Syracuse University.

Bolton was one of the students who put together “Blacker the Berry,” an alternative celebration to Juice Jam.

Last year’s fallout was “a huge wake up call” that served to accentuate the problems SU already had, Idarraga said. “It’s so divided.”

Now as the president of UU, campus unity is Idarraga’s main focus.

“Entertainment, it’s the one thing everyone could be able to come together on,” Idarraga said.

While many people don’t assume it, Idarraga is half-white, on his mother’s side, and half-Colombian, on his father’s side. He’s shy about his Spanish-speaking skills and said he understands it better than he can speak it. Yet Idarraga’s dad, Samuel Idarraga, said Andrew was the one helping him, a native Spanish speaker, communicate when they were in Spain.

Idarraga’s parents got a chance to see their son in action last week when they attended Juice Jam. They were impressed by the magnitude of the event and how cohesively the team — led by their son — worked together.

Lauren Crimmins, UU’s public relations director, referred to Idarraga and Vice President Kyla Perlman as “org parents,” adding that Idarraga has helped create an environment in which UU members feel like they can go to him if they need anything — both work-related and in their personal lives.

“It’s so wonderful having someone like Idarraga as our leader because one of my goals was to make our org more approachable and more open, and he’s just the perfect person to help reach those goals,” Crimmins said.

Joanna Orland, a senior newspaper and online journalism major, said Idarraga is the person who will drop everything to comfort a friend having a bad day. But despite his soft side, Idarraga has grit.

Whether it’s spending summers doing physical labor as a mover, cold-calling artists he wants to connect with or finding the diamond in the rough Soundcloud artist with 200 followers, Idarraga “really respects the hustle,” Orland said.

Idarraga said that he wanted to focus on campus unity and representing the student body as president of UU this year. Ally Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

Idarraga was living up to his childhood nickname, “the Mayor,” bestowed on him for his gift of interacting with people. He used to come home from school knowing everybody’s name, their parents’ names and what car they drove.

Early on, Samuel thought his son would end up being a performer. Idarraga wasn’t even the legal drinking age when he was drumming for a popular band in Milwaukee. The group had heard him play once and hired Idarraga on sight.

When Idarraga was five years old, he asked for drumming lessons. Unsure of how committed their child would be, his parents first put Idarraga in piano lessons.

“After a few years of lessons, I realized he was wasting his time on the piano,” Samuel said. So they put him in drum lessons.

In elementary school, Idarraga said he would return home “to jam” with his friends and listen to music on YouTube. With nothing more than his piano training, Idarraga was able to pick up notes and call out chords to the other kids.

Idarraga went on to be the drummer in a high school band. When the group started earning a few dollars, his friends were quick to make plans on how to spend it.

But Idarraga had other ideas. He wanted to pool the money and reinvest in the band.

That’s when his parents started to realize he would end up behind the curtain, rather than on the stage, Samuel said.

Last year, he said UU “had some problems” with its lack of representation within the organization.

“So let’s talk about it, and once we’re done talking about it, we will deliver what it is you want to see,” Idarraga said.

His same commitment to having these conversations carries over to the student body, Crimmins said.

“He really prioritizes the students,” she said.

Bolton feels the difference in this year’s leadership: This year they did a “really good job” with the lineup and being receptive to students’ opinions, including those outside of the majority.

When the data from the annual UU Events survey came back, Idarraga poured over it, Crimmins said. Even now, when decisions need to be made, he goes straight back to those numbers.

“The plan starts with regaining the trust of the students,” Idarraga said.

Published on September 25, 2018 at 9:48 pm

Contact Stacy: sfern100@syr.edu | @StacyFernandezB