University President Lawrence H. Summers announced in February that his office would co-sponsor Springfest this year, a pledge that raised questions about the level of influence the administration would have in choosing a band and producing the event.

“When bids are made for large amounts of money we need to approve of that in advance,” Illingworth said.

Lee estimated that Outkast will cost between $60,000 and $65,000, and an additional $30,000 in production costs.

Lee said she was not overly worried with Illingworth’s e-mail, saying she expects HCC will be able to assuage Illingworth’s concerns.

“I think overall the caution Dean Illingworth has shown has been completely justified. For a university these concerts are not a small deal,” Lee said. “When you select an artist, you don’t want an artist that is offensive or inappropriate.... The concert commission is going to assure him that Outkast is a quality performer.”

While other bands, including Guster, Jurassic 5 and the Goo Goo Dolls have been discussed as options, Lee said she is committed to bidding for and bringing Outkast to campus.

“We conducted a survey and Outkast won by a pretty large margin,” Lee said. “We understand that student sentiment is for Outkast and that is who we are really pushing for.”

—Staff writer Joseph P. Flood can be reached at flood@fas.harvard.edu.