Senior Editor
The College Entertainment Committee’s (CEC) annual Spring Arts, entitled “Fummstock” as a reference to the famous music festival Woodstock, was held Saturday. As always, it was one of the most anticipated and attended events of the spring semester and students came out in droves to de-stress before the final wave of work associated with reading days and finals. The event is so highly anticipated because it has been at the College for many years.
It began as a week-long event that was planned by a separate committee over the course of the entire year. While it has changed since then, now divided between the CEC and the Blue and White Society, it still provides the fun, end-of-the-year experience that students are looking for as the spring semester comes to a close.
Spring Arts wraps up the year, giving students something to enjoy while rejoicing over the end of the semester.
“[Spring Arts] serves as a stress reliever and a celebration of the accomplishments of the past year,” said Lauren Russo ’12, president of the CEC.
While many students see the end result of the work CEC puts into the event, few know what goes into the planning of the much-awaited event.
“We begin planning at the end of the fall semester,” Russo said. “The five-person executive board of the CEC organizes the event by dividing it into food, music, entertainment, and publicity groups, with the president overseeing the entire process.”
The CEC took a different approach to Spring Arts this year than in previous years. At the beginning of the year, they sent a
survey to the student body about what they would like to see at this year’s Spring Arts and what they did not really care for from previous years. From the responses, the CEC learned that the real reason students go to Spring Arts is for the food and bands. As such, this year’s Spring Arts placed more emphasis on the food venues and attracting more bands than in previous years.
Also different from previous years was the relevance of the theme. Previously, the theme of Spring Arts dictated the food and bands that played as well as the other events that surrounded it, such as “Probe the Globe,” where everything was based on an international focus. This year, the name Fummstock was used as more of a marketing and publicity tool rather than a theme in order to increase the possibilities for the event.
“We are looking for what students want and are not going to discount something just because it doesn’t fit the theme,” Russo said. “We are trying to make it the best event possible.”
This year’s event had entertainment venues ranging from a henna artist to inflatable attractions. There were also two student bands, Old Head and Coming Soon, as well as a Jimmy Buffet cover band, Tropical Soul. Overall, the event lived up to the expectations of what Spring Arts means because of the CEC and its concern for what the stu- dents want.
“I really hope the students appreciate the changes we have made by bringing more things students want,” Russo said. “This year was really success- ful because the executive board is really close and it makes for a good atmosphere for working together.”
Spring Arts was also graced with amazing weather, and even if they weren’t participating in the attractions, the student body was out in force, lounging on the green and enjoying the beautiful day.
After celebrating spring and the de-stressing quality of Spring Arts, the campus should now be ready for the final push through finals to the end of the year.
Questions? Email Justin at justin.kozloski@fandm.edu.