Witt’s Union Board recently sent out a campus wide email giving students the opportunity to vote for the headliner of this years Wittfest.
“We had a list of 15 to start off, but we had to narrow it down,” Annie Carroll, ‘19, Co-President of Union Board said. “We needed to make sure that all the [potential headliners] were appropriate and respectful to previous universities.”
The five options Union Board decided on for a headliner included: Bowling for Soup, Cassadee Pope, Nico and Vinz, The Mowgli’s and Waka Flocka Flame.
Union Board decided to make this change in order to give students the best Wittfest yet.
“We’ve always really wanted to do it, but the trigger was the whole fiasco with B.o.b last year,” Carroll said. “We were trying to think, how can we give the students what they want this year, instead of just assuming?”
The most excitement seems to be surrounding Waka Flocka Flame. Hashtags from students have started to circulate Twitter, like #Waka4Wittfest, which has the campus buzzing with excitement for the new artist.
Carroll explained that Union Board wants to be able to put on a good show and give the students something worthy of what they’re paying for. Union Board works to make sure that as many students come to the headliner performance as possible.
“We still spent the money from our budget to get that [performer] for the students and if people aren’t coming that means that they clearly don’t like the performer enough to show up,” Carroll said.
So far, there haven’t been any concerns with the artists chosen and the hype from students about the release of the potential Wittfest has Union Board buzzing with excitement and optimism. Despite the voting taking away from the excitement of a reveal later on in the school year, Union Board is learning to adapt to the change in order to make Wittfest better for everyone involved.
“I think we’re more excited about the voting now than we’ve ever been for the reveal,” Carroll said.
Because the potential headliners were released so early this year, Union Board plans on releasing the winning performer much earlier this year. Students should expect a reveal early next semester.
Carroll explained a small draw back to the voting system stating that if the number one choice voted on by students doesn’t cooperate with Union Board, in terms of contracts, payment and scheduling, then Union Board will be forced to move down the list to the next most voted upon artist and continue the process from the beginning.
No matter the turnout of this year’s headliner, students should expect to continue to have the opportunity to vote on a future headliner.
