It’s time for our campus to face the music — and that means providing students with the room to hear it.

While a host of undergraduate music groups like to jam out — including a small army of a cappella groups and a range of formal choral and instrumental groups — the university has not been a top backer of the various independent student bands and artists on campus. Now, however, it has an opportunity to step up and showcase this talent by allocating the proper space in the New South Student Center, which is currently in its planning phase.

While Georgetown isn’t particularly known for its music culture, it secretly boasts a crop of talented students. Over the last year, Tate Tucker, the campus’s own rap sensation, has gained wide recognition and Internet hype, releasing his first album this past April, “Blue Dreams” and performing at on-campus events like last Friday’s Mr. Georgetown Pageant. The recently created Georgetown University Hip-Hop Association brings together hip-hop aficionados to write, record and share their music. Likewise, The Guild of Bands, a consortium of student bands within the Department of Performing Arts, puts on events like the Fall Band Blast and entertains the crowds on Georgetown Day. In the past, WGTB Georgetown Radio has also been known to promote student musicians through concerts.

As with all student groups here, the biggest limiting factor for a vibrant music culture is space. While Gaston Hall, McNeir Auditorium and Davis Performing Arts center are adequate venues for formal performances, informal showcases of talent are impossible with the current setup.

The university has the opportunity to cultivate a larger musical culture by allocating room in the New South Student Center. The outlined large multipurpose room and proposed pub have the potential to attract a large number of students for a potential rise in live musical performances in a central student space.

Concurrently, improvements can be made to many of the informal practice spaces already in existence, particularly the ones in New South. GUSA must consider using some of the SAFE Reform funds to renovate music practice rooms currently within New South, as the current proposal does not call for a reworking of this area in the meantime.

The limited room for casual practice and performance has allowed artists to disappear from the radar of campus life. Before the music scene fades entirely, administrators need to recognize that having some more room to work with will help Georgetown’s undercover superstars shine.