The Office of Student Involvement (OSI) sent out a form on Get Involved on Wednesday, Oct. 16 asking students to submit suggestions for this year’s Springfest 2025 concert performer. Students were asked to share one name of an artist or group across a selection of categories including rock, pop, alternative and more.
In the email sent to the Colgate University student body, OSI included the link to a website managed by the platform Concert Ideas, which provides lists of performers in a variety of genres and price ranges that are currently a part of the college market. This was a valuable resource, as student choices were limited by artists that are willing to perform on college campuses. On the form, students had the option to suggest three artists in different price ranges — one under $25,000, one between $25,000 and $50,000 and one between $50,000 and $75,000. OSI also hosted an in-person open forum on Thursday, Oct. 10 in which students could suggest and discuss ideas for headliners.
Previous performers include Disco Lines in spring 2024, Olivia O’Brien in spring 2023, and T-Pain in spring 2022. During the 2021-2022 academic year, the main sponsor of Springfest was the Student Government Association (SGA). For the 2023-2024 academic year, the planning of the concert shifted to the Springfest Committee. SGA and other campus organizations sponsored the planning of the Disco Lines concert in April.
Senior and Student Body President Elsa O’Brien spoke on the importance of Springfest to the student body and the shifting sponsorship of the concert.
“Springfest is so important to this campus. Whether we’re leaving for the summer, going abroad, or graduating, this is our last chance to be all together. Because of that, the planning of Springfest deserves a really good and consistent structure. A few SGA members who volunteered to help out over the summer and I worked with some amazing administrators on a permanent structure for the Springfest Committee,” O’Brien said. “With this new structure, the committee is not only representative of our diverse campus, but also has checks and balances to ensure Springfest always happens properly. I can’t wait to see what the Springfest Committee does this year, and I’m so grateful to everyone that helped us get to this point.”
This year, the Springfest Committee, made up of representatives from areas across campus, will be heading the planning of this year’s concert.
While the Oct. 10 forum was designed so that students could give their input on the artist selection process, Director of the Office of Student Involvement Paul Habernig explained that they sent a form via email to garner more responses.
“We are in the beginning stages of the selection process,” Habernig said. “Because the open forum had very few students, we decided to send out the form to collect artist suggestions.”
Habernig also explained the process by which OSI takes student suggestions and ultimately decides on a headliner.
“Working with concert ideas, the names collected will be paired down to those within our budget and who are available for the Springfest date,” Habernig said. “[The] next step in the process is to send out a vote to the Colgate students who they would like to see as the artist. From there, we make some phone calls and offers and book an artist.”
Sophomore Kiera Tran filled out the Get Involved form and is optimistic about the 2025 Springfest concert.
“As somebody who loves live music and has discussed Springfest artists with friends, it’s nice to be included in this community decision. It’s hopefully a good sign that Colgate will bring in a cool artist this spring,” Tran said.
Senior Caroline Collins spoke on the impact of Springfest on her throughout her time at Colgate.
“Springfest was so amazing my freshman year, and I want other Colgate students to get to experience a great concert this year,” Collins said. “I appreciate everything everyone involved in the planning does, and hopefully a structured planning process with student input will bring great artists to campus.”
The Get Involved form closed on Sunday, Oct. 20. The Springfest Committee will now work to create a list of the top suggestions for Colgate students to vote on in November.
