Instead of sitting in a dorm room staring at books during Dead Week, students can kick the week off right and attend an outdoor concert on Sunday.

Dead Week Kickoff is an outdoor music concert in the Old RCA Courtyard to be held from 2-8 p.m. Sunday. It will feature four bands, including Davis Love, a local band from the Union Drive Association that will be playing from 2-3 p.m.; Java, a local band from the Richardson Court Association playing from 3-4 p.m.; Someday Mission, a band from Omaha that will play from 4-6 p.m.; and The Nadas, a local band, will end the event by playing from 6-8 p.m.

There will also be a meal from 5-7 p.m. of burgers, brats, chips and pop for $2. The first 50 freshmen eat free.

The event is being sponsored by Birch-Willow-Roberts Residence Halls and the Freshmen Council, the only organization on campus geared completely toward freshmen.

The council, which was formed earlier this semester, allows ISU freshmen the chance to get involved with an organization aimed entirely at them.

The chief goals of the council are to involve freshman students in leadership activities and help unify the voice of the freshman class.

Matt Crosson, former GSB Chief of Staff and the creator of the Freshmen Council, said he got the idea because there were few organizations on campus that let freshmen show their leadership skills. He also wanted something that would encourage freshmen to get involved and feel more welcome at ISU.

“The first time I saw ISU was the day I moved in. I didn’t feel like I belonged and I spent a lot of time in my dorm room not knowing what was out there,” Crosson said.

He said the Freshmen Council is a support system for first-year students. Whether they are directly involved in the council or attend one of the events, Crosson said, the council is a way to become linked with the university.

The Freshmen Council is a subcommittee of the Government of the Student Body, but Crosson hopes that it will become an independent organization in the near future.

Laura Thygesen, president of the Freshmen Council, said she ran for the Council because she thought it was a great opportunity to get involved with the university. She said she has strong leadership skills and wanted to use them to help freshmen students at Iowa State.

“We’re a group formed to serve the needs of freshmen on campus. We’ll be here for them,” Thygesen said.

She said the purpose of the event on Sunday is to provide an activity that will be fun and “get the name of the Freshmen Council out with a big bang.”

Sam Nanfito, social chair, said the concert this weekend is the first event the Freshmen Council has sponsored and the first activity the council has provided for freshmen.

Nanfito said the aim of Sunday’s concert is to get the freshmen class together before Dead Week and Finals Week. He said, however, it is not limited to freshmen and everyone is welcome to attend the concert.