As the year proceeds, students await the celebration that takes place before finals, the spring fling. With an arsenal of events, the Pace community gets the opportunity to enjoy time with friends and take their minds off of school. The usual spotlight moment is the concert, which in the past had performances from Wale and J Cole. This year, the concert will not take place; but the night sky will still be filled with lights, music, and fun.
The Spring Fling is expected to take place April 17 to the 21. However, programming decided to try something new this year. Instead of the annual spring concert, a carnival has been decided to take its place.
“Since about 2009, programming decided to hold a concert on the Pleasantville campus,” Caity Kirschbaum, the Coordinator for SDCA said. “Compared to the New York activities, our student activities fees are split up very differently, so what we have in our budget doesn’t necessarily match what our students are looking for to listen to, so we usually have a B or C list performer.”
Kirchbaum, a Pace alumni, has had time to examine the success of the spring concert.
“We have had three years of concert, and we have had minimal turnout all three years. We assisted VP of programming as best we could with advertisement,” Kirchbaum said. “Three years in a row we started to see a trend, it’s a majority of the programming budget, and a majority of the students don’t go to it, so it’s not the best utilizations of the funds.”
After seeing the low turnout rate, the Programming Committee and SDCA knew something had to be done.
“If students don’t go to the events, there is less of a reason to try to push it,” Kirchbaum said. “The goal is to increase the turnout, with the concert; you only go if you like that particular music, but by doing something much bigger and less specific, then more people can enjoy it.”
The Programming Committee began to search for different options to create a more enjoyable experience for the Pace committee.
“The Spring concerts in the past weren’t horrible, but there wasn’t a big turnout with the concerts. We don’t have to worry on attracting students who want hip-hop, while others want country, the carnival is more universal,” said senior criminal justice major, Janike-Vivianne Bradshaw Vice President of Programming. “The Carnival offers different options from food to rides, there’s something there for everyone.”
At first, the initial goal was the concert.
“Initially we tried to go for the Spring Concert, but due to constraints, we would not have been able to create something that would interest all students. Plus nothing was set in stone, and nothing was being signed,” Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw assures other opportunities will arise for student wanting to go to a concert.
“This isn’t the last hope forever, there is always a chance we will bring it back next year to students or students could go to a concert at the New York City campus,” Bradshaw said. ““We decided to create an event that will cater to every student at Pace.”
Supporting a concert takes much work, that some felt was not beneficial to the Pace community.
“Every year we send out bids, so we pay for a third-party vendor to put together a budget and release it to multiple artists, then we have to pay for production, sound guys, artist, and then students have to set up the concert physically,” Kirschbaum said. “Our deadline was at the end of last semester, and no bids came back with artist that students wanted. Even if some students did want to attend one of those artists, they would only make up 2% of the campus.”
Both new and returning students understand the change.
“I have heard of the Spring Fling before, and I’m looking forward to the concert, from what I’ve heard not a lot of people liked the performers,” freshman nursing major Christopher Kayser said. ““I look forward to a carnival with many activities, rather than a hit or miss performance.”
Some students do question the big decision.
“I wish in some way, there was an opportunity to have both, that way there could be a direct comparison of what people like the most,” junior nursing major Sasha Scott said.
However, students feel that the carnival isn’t a bad decision either.
“I didn’t go last year because I wasn’t a fan of the artist. But I did go to the J Cole concert a while back, and not a lot of people showed up,” Scott said. “The carnival would be a nice difference, as long as it’s a day full of enjoyment, fun, and all my friends are there, that’s all that counts.”
The carnival strives to offer a rewarding experience to those who attend.
“As a student, I want to see traditions with great turnout and pride and spirit. I’d love to see it all to engage students and create unity on campus.” Kirchbaum said. “It’s going to be a great, fun time.”
Unity of the community seems to be a main goal with the carnival.
“It’s open to anyone, I want everyone to come out and have a great time plus it can be a way for the Pace community to come together,” Bradshaw said. “It’s a great opportunity to bring together the Pace Community. Pleasantville Community, New York City campus and cater to the student body that wasn’t catered to in the past.”
Students can expect mechanical rides, lights, food, and games.
“Spring Fling is a week of events where students can unwind and have fun with their friends before finals,” Bradshaw said. “Our goal is to satisfy the students and finish with a bang.”
The upcoming Spring Fling also offers multiple events throughout the week including nights for talented individuals showing off their poetry, singing, and more.
“Instead of having many small events building up the concert, we plan on having big events the entire week,” Bradshaw said. “These are great events that have been planned out very thoroughly and we are trying to create something that all students can look forward too, so give it a try, you will be satisfied.”
More information will be provided and given to students through all sorts of media, from posters to social media.
“We’ve been doing well with what we have, but we need a fresh start as a campus culture,” Kirchbaum said. “We have great and dedicated students, and having the opportunity to utilize the space we have and to bring our uniqueness to bring the campus together.”