Allegheny College’s Major Events Committee has once again brought a concert to the Gator community. The MEC announced via Instagram that rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie would be headlining the April 23 concert in Raymond P. Shafer Auditorium on the evening of Tuesday, April 12.
“We wanted someone that was kind of representative of the student body, especially the seniors and juniors because it’s their last major concert,” said Allegheny Student Government Chief of Staff Gena Pena, ’22, who serves on the MEC.
“We’re super stoked about it,” added ASG Vice President Sophie Adams, ‘22, another MEC member. “I think he’ll be a great concert, and the vibe was right. We went through a lot of different artists trying to find the right one, and I think we were really thinking about, ‘what would the campus want to go to as a concert?’ And we’re really glad that it worked out.”
Pittsburgh-based rapper VO2K will open the concert, which by the Tuesday evening announcement had already sold more tickets than the 2020 Bryce vine performance, Pena said.
“Students were already really excited even before they knew who the artist was, just with the hints and things like that,” Pena said. “They were super excited about potentially it being A Boogie.”
A Boogie’s performance will round out Allegheny College’s first Springfest since 2019. The annual festival, with the theme “Gator Gras” after the Catholic holiday of Mardi Gras, will run from April 17-23.
Springfest is one of the biggest student-led events on campus, but has been canceled the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the Major Events Committee — which consists of members of the Allegheny Student Government and Gator Activities Programming — is bringing it back with flair.
“I think that everyone’s gonna be able to find something that they like during the week, even if it’s just grabbing a t–shirt or something like that,” said President of GAP Victoria Smith, ’23.
“There’s going to be a lot to do and it’s going to be busy, but I think it’s going to be the fun kind of busy.”
As a GAP representative during her first year, Smith helped plan the 2020 Springfest before it was canceled. Back then, the event was scheduled over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday; this year it will be a week long.
“(Among) our GAP executive members that are helping plan (Springfest), we have like a split of myself and a senior (who has) seen it done and who knows what it was like, and then we have underclassmen who have no idea what it is and they have all these ideas,” Smith said. “It’s a weird kind of blending and meshing of things … at the end of the day, it’s going to be a great event for everyone, it just might not look like it has in the past.”
Another key difference is GAP’s spirit of collaboration. Smith said that she has focused the organization more on working with other clubs this year, including producing the annual Wingfest event with the Astronomy Club and a shadow cast of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” with Student Experimental Theatre. Likewise, Springfest will feature collaborations with the International Club and the South Asian Students Society.
“We have the International Festival on Sunday (April 17); that is the kickoff to Spring Fest,” Smith said. “We have the Holi event during the week that — (SASS) had it planned and then we talked to them and then they moved it, so now it’s a part of the Springfest lineup. I think that it’s a really good way to make Springfest this whole campus-wide event because we have all of these different collaborations that bring groups that may not necessarily have joined in on some of the events before.”
The International Festival, produced by the International Club, is a two-part event which begins at 5 p.m. on April 17 on the Bicentennial Plaza outside of Schultz Hall with the International Bazaar. At the bazaar, attendees will be able to sample foods from over a dozen countries. The second part of the event is the International Formal, which will start at 8 p.m. in the Schulzt Banquet Hall.
According to International Club Secretary Adriana Solis, ’23, much of the food production had already been worked out with Parkhurst Dining Services prior to any talk of collaboration.
“All of the recipes, everything food- and logistics-wise was (done) completely with Parkhurst,” Solis said. “GAP mainly provided us with free promotion, and then also they gave us funding for extra decorations and just extra funding that we would need to accommodate a larger (part of the) student body than we anticipated.”
Solis also noted that students fasting for the Islamic month of Ramadan would be able to purchase a to-go box from the bazaar, which will end around an hour before the fast is broken at sundown.
“We have talked with Parkhurst and they did say that for every ticket, when the student specifies they’re doing Ramadan, they will have a to-go box with them that we would sell packaged and get to them at the start of the event,” Solis said.
The bazaar itself is a ticketed event. Tickets are $5 and are on sale in Brooks Dining Hall Friday, April 15 from noon until 1:30 p.m. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door. However, despite the close proximity and timing between the bazaar and formal, Solis said the former is not an official part of Springfest.
“The official Springfest collaboration is the (International Club) formal,” Solis said. “It’s open to everybody in the Allegheny community, not just (members of) the International Club, or international students. And it is a (very) formal thing, so dresses, heels, suits and all that (are expected). I don’t think a lot of people are putting the two events together; it’s more like food is from 5 to 7 (p.m.), then there’s an hour break for people to go and change, and then the formal is from 8 to 10 (p.m.).”
The other club working with GAP is the South Asian Students Society, whose Holi celebration will be held on Friday, April 22 at 12:30 p.m. on the Murray Hall lawn.
“For those who aren’t exactly sure what Holi is about, it’s kind of like Color Run,” said SASS President Aveet Desai, ’23.
According to Time Magazine, Holi, the Festival of Colors, has been celebrated since the fourth century C.E., and typically involves splashing colored powder and water on attendees. According to Vice-President of SASS Hema Baniya, ’24, the event will include the use of biodegradable and allergen-friendly water balloons, which two teams will launch at each other in a frenzy of color.
“We’re actually providing white shirts, because we wanted people to go home with something that they (can) remember it by, rather than just playing with colors,” Desai said.
Working with GAP to make it a part of Springfest has expanded the expected attendance; SASS now hopes for 75 to 100 students to participate.
“By (collaborating) with GAP, we’re hoping to have better outreach to the community so that we would have more students and more community involvement,” Baniya said. “It’s supposed to be like a fun event and the more people that are there, the better it will be.”
The club also hopes that being in the Springfest lineup will help make students more aware of SASS as a student organization.
“We just want our club to have a bigger audience,” Desai added. “People just think that the South Asian Students Society is just like South Indian, or South Asian people, but that’s not what our club is about. We want to advertise it more as a club that celebrates South Asian culture, but at the same time, (a club that) gives more opportunities to people to understand what it’s about.”
Beyond the official lineup is an unofficial week of partying for students. Wristbands to access these parties have gone on sale through social media accounts like @acspringfest2022, and the administration has noticed.
“The College has been informed of the selling and purchasing of unauthorized wristbands,” the Dean of Students Office wrote in email to students on April 8. “Students should be reminded that any behavior not in compliance with the student handbook or institutional policy is subject to student conduct/judicial review. Remember to have fun but behave responsibly.”
Smith emphasized that GAP’s Springfest is separate from the unofficial activities.
“You do not need any wristbands to get into the official events for GAP, those are a completely separate thing,” Smith said “It’s totally up to you — I don’t think I could manage having a week-long drinking affair. But if some students want to have that, I mean, they’re adults, that’s their decision.”
In addition to the collaborations with the International Club and SASS, GAP will be hosting a number of other events during the week. After Sunday’s kickoff, Monday afternoon will see a campus-wide scavenger hunt, and Monday evening students will be able to participate in escape rooms in the Campus Center. Inflatables will be put up on the Gator Quad and in Brooks Circle on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. The schedule, included in the Dean of Students’ April 8 email, also calls for tarot readings, a Casino Night in Brooks Dining Hall, and a snow cone truck at various points throughout the week.
“I’m really excited to bring this tradition back to campus,” Smith said. “It’s seven days of just a ton of stuff.”