Originally published Oct. 12, 1994
Mayor Bill Campbell plans to get the word out at predominantly black colleges across the United States that Freaknik is no longer welcome in Atlanta. But at least one would-be festival promoter is trying to make sure Freaknik lives - and that he gets a piece of the action.
The Atlanta Student Forum, which promoted Freaknik this year, has evaporated. “Students don’t have the fiscal power to organize Freaknik,” said Spelman student President Stacey Abrams, a forum member. “We don’t have plans to reactivate.”
But an obscure new corporation called Freak Nik International is trying to move into the vacuum. It says it will sponsor the mega-event next April 20-23.
Not if Campbell has his way. Angelo Fuster, the mayor’s spokesman, said Wednesday that the city will “be contacting all the predominantly black colleges and universities and the black sororities and fraternities to make them aware that Atlanta is not the right place” for Freaknik.
Freak Nik International says the students can’t be stopped. The company operates a toll-free 800 number out of a Stone Mountain residence with a recording that gives callers the date and offers a “Freak Nic Membership Kit” to those willing to pay $24.95. The kit includes a souvenir T-shirt, key chain, luggage tag, bumper sticker, sun visor and party map. Company literature promises a major party, car parade and the crowning of Mr. and Miss Freak Nic.
Lawrence Michael Walker, the company’s chief executive officer, claimed in an interview to have a mailing list of 75,000 students, and offices in Atlanta, Memphis and Chicago. He also said he is a professor at a college in Tennessee. But Walker wouldn’t name the school, detail how he will finance the festival or divulge which of several African- American student government associations he says have endorsed his plans.
There is also some confusion about the company’s name. “Freaknik” was copyrighted last year by an aspiring organizer who then dropped out of sight. Walker says his company is named “Freak Nic,” as in picnic. But the Georgia secretary of state’s office says the company name is “Freak Nik.”
