The Student Association Programming Board kicked off the fall semester in a big way this past Thursday, bringing acclaimed Disney Channel star and the lead vocalist of the indie duo THE DRIVER ERA, Ross Lynch, to campus.

“An Evening with Ross Lynch,” held in the Anderson Center, included an audience Q&A in addition to a 15-minute live acoustic performance. With his renowned success in earlier Disney Channel roles like “Austin & Ally” and “Teen Beach Movie,” Lynch exceeded student expectations and brought back feelings of nostalgia.

Melissa Dalton, the SAPB’s insights chair and a senior majoring in biology, described how the board decided to bring Lynch to campus.

“Selecting Ross Lynch to be our celebrity speaker this semester was an easy choice,” Dalton wrote in an email. “When we sent out our interest survey over the summer we found that Mr. Lynch had received an overwhelming amount of the votes. He is a well known figure for our generation and our team has been so thrilled to work with him.”

The interview portion of the night covered topics including Lynch’s success on Disney Channel and transitioning into more serious roles like in “My Friend Dahmer.” Lynch mentioned that he wanted to play more unconventional roles, like Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous serial killer, when leaving Disney.

Atticus Fauci, the vice president for programming and a junior majoring in economics, described the impact of student-led events.

“We are here to serve the students,” Fauci said. “We are here to provide premiere public programming for the students of this university, so to do something like this — it truly means everything.”

During the event, Lynch discussed his fascination with “the Lost Generation” — the individuals who came of age during World War I — and how it connected to how the band’s name came to be. He said that most people nowadays drive cars, and he wanted future generations to listen to his music and look back at Generation Z as “the driver era.”

Many students connected through watching Lynch and Disney Channel in general. “Having him here felt like a very full-circle moment because this is someone you grew up with and now it’s like he’s growing up with you,” Elizabeth Ruben, a junior majoring in psychology, said.

During Lynch’s 15-minute acoustic performance, he took crowd recommendations, singing hits from THE DRIVER ERA, like “Afterglow” and “Get Off My Phone,” a cover of Chappell Roan’s “Casual” and “Not A Love Song” from “Austin & Ally.”

“As I was sitting and listening to ‘On My Own,’ it really just took me back to my 10-year-old self on the couch dreaming of meeting Ross and then being able to see it 11 years later was just a surreal feeling,” said Einav Kaplan said, a junior majoring in economics.

Lynch interacted with the audience, signing body-sized cutouts of himself and even giving away his guitar pick. He agreed to sing his first song of the acoustic set, “Can’t Do It Without You” — the “Austin & Ally” theme song — in a pink sparkly cowboy hat given to him by a member of the audience.

While many were saddened as the night ended, the evening gave many students new memories to hold on to. Dalton described the importance of SAPB’s work in fostering student life on campus.

“I think events like this give students even more to look forward to,” she wrote. “This event is proof that there is so much to experience here while still working towards your education. There is so much to do on this campus to get involved and meet new people.”