The Student Association (SA) and the Student Association Programming Board (SAPB) announced the performers on Wednesday for the OzFest spring concert. The reaction, for the most part, has been anything but positive.
Flo Rida, Dej Loaf, Rich Homie Quan and celebrity host Lil’ Duval make up the concert’s line-up and Oswego State students had a lot to say upon discovering the news.
Students took to social media such as Yik Yak to express their disappointment, stating, “OzFest about to be as lit as my RA’s floor event” and “Wtf was the point of a survey if they completely ignored it? #WasteofTime2016.” The latter Yak got 90 positive votes.
What students don’t understand, and something they absolutely have to, is the amount of hard work and effort that goes into planning the spring concert. SA and SAPB have been hard at work for months on this endeavor, and in the end, some things just don’t work out.
The survey, as the earlier Yak presumed, is not an issue in terms of it being ignored. The issue is that students want their voices heard, they need to actually vote for a genre and write in realistic artists the school could acquire.
We reported in this very issue that the survey sent out to students in the fall semester actually influences the entire planning process. It is not ignored; quite the contrary, actually.
If students are upset that the concert is rap-influenced again, then they need to vote in the survey next year and voice their opinion in as many ways possible. If students don’t speak up, then those planning the concert have no idea what they want. However, going to social media and blaming the wrong people is not an effective way of getting your voice heard.
It is by no fault of the SA president or the SAPB director that other, more “high profile” artists are not coming for the concert. As reported, scheduling conflicts arose and ultimately, under the conditions the artists were asking, it would have been impossible to realistically plan the concert.
There were attempts to acquire better-known performers, but unless someone is involved in that planning process, it’s impossible to know just how difficult that can be.
We can agree that the artists may be disappointing at first glance, but it’s also important to keep in mind that these artists could be great and are worth at least giving them a chance before being completely written off.
The fact of the matter is that people are going to be disappointed no matter who performs. It’s impossible to please everyone, so we ask that students at least give this concert a chance and if they don’t like it, be more involved in the planning process next year. Voice your opinion, but in a respectful manner.
