Students Celebrate Warm Weather at Spring Fling
Mari Edwards walks up to the microphone, stationed on the stairs of Phillips Hall, and begins to speak. “Y’all are shining tonight,” he says. “I know it’s dark out here, but wow we are giving off a lot of light in this place. Let’s go!” The crowd surrounds the steps of Phillips Hall, chanting along to the rap’s lyrics as the final act of the Academy’s 2015 Spring Fling begins.
7 p.m. on Saturday, May 19th marked the start of the 2015 Spring Fling, held on the Academy Quad. Hosted by Exeter’s Student Council (StuCo), a large combination of clubs on campus were involved in this popular event, notably Exeter Association of Rock (EAR) and Exeter Rap Association (ERA). In addition to the musical performances, carnival games and food were set up for all to enjoy.
The idea of Spring Fling was first established last year, when Student Council proposed the idea of a large concert. Assistant Director of Student Activities Kelly McGahie said that in 2013-14, Spring Fling was never really able to materialize. Although Spring Fling did ultimately come together, it was not the same concert that they had originally planned.
However, this year, after much talk about whether it should happen again or not, Spring Fling turned into the larger concert that they had envisioned last year. The event featured an array of performers including students, faculty, alumni and even professionals. Among the faculty and alumni participating were DJ Uplifted, Mari and “When Particles Collide”—a rock duo composed of science instructor Sasha Alcott and her husband Chris Viner.
The planning process for Spring Fling all began with Justin Harmond ‘11, who was the founder and co-head of ERA, when he discussed with McGahie about the possibility of bringing one of his artists, Mari, to Exeter to perform. Harmond had previously brought artists to Exeter during his time as a co-head of ERA, and because of this, McGahie trusted him to spark Spring Fling with his new artist, Mari.
“I heard that the students here always have wanted hip hop, and I remembered that Justin has had such a good track record of bringing people here,” McGahie said, “so I thought we should have him over here for Spring Fling. Then we just started to add to them.”
First, McGahie began receiving suggestions about having the band “When Particles Collide” perform. Then, she remembered that EAR had always participated in musical events on campus. Finally, upper Nick Madamidola suggested DJ Uplifted, who accepted the invitation to come DJ at Exeter. Suddenly, Spring Fling had materialized into the larger project they had pictured.
When the night finally arrived, everything seemed to fall exactly in place. The weather, unlike last year’s Spring Fling, was ideal for an outdoor concert, and a large crowd quickly formed in the Academy Quad.
Watching this large group of students and faculty, Harmond described that he got a “surreal” feeling, especially after his artist, Mari, finished his performance.
“When I was here I was hosting [ERA] concerts and trying to find people that would be good for this school. I remember every night after doing these concerts [back when I was a student at Exeter], [I got] this very satisfying feeling,” he said. “To be able to come back here, and be on the other side of the room, it was pretty surreal. It is good just to be back here and see how people react and see how people have changed.”
Likewise, DJ and producer of DJ Uplifted Robin Kim ‘10 said that although before going on stage he felt a little nervous, the large and energetic crowd quickly erased his anxiety. Unlike his usual performances in clubs and festivals, where there isn’t a strict time limit, Spring Fling gave Kim thirty minutes to fit as many songs from his set as he could. However, Kim said that this challenge only made the night better.
“[The time limit] entailed a lot of transitions, which required constant mixing and oversight; at some point I was mixing four songs simultaneously. The crowd’s energy really eliminated those nerves though!” Kim said.
Kim and Mari were two of the main events of Spring Fling, and both were brought to Exeter for a similar purpose. Newly elected StuCo president, Rebecca Ju said that the performers were selected specifically for their popularity and excitement in hopes of creating a “high energy event.”
With these “high-energy” performers, the Exeter community considered Spring Fling a great success. Post-graduate Arianna Pastaros enjoyed the dance-like atmosphere Spring Fling had.“It was one of my favorite events this year,” Pastaros said. “My favorite part was when they brought in the DJ because everyone could dance to that. A lot of students showed up and I met a ton of new people.”
Likewise Senior Class President Stephanie Chen described the night as one with a “great atmosphere” and one of great support, saying “it’s always a pleasure to have the opportunity to listen to Exeter students and teachers perform.”
Prep Margaret Kraus shared Chen’s sentiments about Spring Fling. She described the event as one to look forward to next year.
“I really liked when the students performed because it was nice to see friends up there,” Kraus said. “I thought that overall it was a really fun event and definitely worth my time, I would go again next year. It was also nice how you could come for as long or as short as you wanted.”
Alumni were pleasantly surprised by the caliber of all the performances, particularly EAR’s.
“My friend, Kohiin ‘10, and I were blown away by their talent. I was actually the head of EAR when I was a senior, and we couldn’t remember anyone performing with so much energy and confidence,” Kim said.
Evident by the reactions of both students and alumni, Spring Fling was a huge success. Because of this impressive concert and turnout, McGahie and many others have already looked forward to planning this event next year.
“I wanted to use this as a year to build on Spring Fling,” McGahie said. “Hopefully we can make Spring Fling an all-community event so that we can get events that everybody would like, both students and faculty.”