Northwestern will spend up to $200,000 to bring a big-name speaker or performance to campus next winter after it approved a request from student leaders, former ASG President Jonathan Webber announced during tonight’s ASG meeting.

Webber, along with outgoing A&O Productions chairman Alex White and outgoing ASG Executive Vice President Matt Bogusz, presented the idea to administrators in February. In the proposal, Webber, White and Bogusz suggested annual speakers or musical acts they think would attract thousands of students, such as Coldplay, Oprah or Bono.

NU’s University Budget Committee approved the funding Monday.

NU will sponsor the event rather than a specific campus group. Webber said in an interview that he hopes it will unite students and be something they remember “for 20 or 30 years.”

“One of the things I’ve noticed in the last four years is that there aren’t a lot of things you look back on and say that’s something I did with a huge, huge number of people at NU,” Webber said.