After reviewing last week’s Spring Fling survey results, we realize that no matter which acts we pick, someone might just die. One student anonymously wrote “if you invite Rihanna I will kill you,” while another wrote that he or she would die if we didn’t have Rihanna perform. In an effort to increase transparency and respond to your concerns, we want to let you know that our goals for Spring Fling this year are the following: to plan a great concert based on student input, to open up what has traditionally been an obscure selection process, and to minimize death threats and suicide attempts as much as possible.

More than anything, the survey showed that the student body is totally, completely and adamantly divided when it comes to music preferences. While we wish we could satisfy everyone (including the one student who voted for Smegma), we realize that will probably never happen, and the best we can do is tell you exactly how the Spring Fling selection process works. So here goes:

To start the process, we wrote an initial poll to gauge genre preference, and a more detailed poll which featured all of the acts which are affordable and available for Spring Fling. The YCC e-board and YSAC have put in numerous hours discussing and analyzing the feedback that over 3,000 students gave, and right now we’re using the survey information to decide on the three options for Spring Fling that best reflect student opinion and will provide for an incredible show.

Here’s where the hard part comes in: the reason we’re picking three options is due to a trail of dominoes that is sadly out of our control. It takes the Yale College Dean’s Office time to prepare contracts after we tell them which acts students would like; our talent agent can’t make bids to acts until they have the contracts; and the acts can decide to go elsewhere at any point until they’ve agreed to our bids. So we’re pretty much counting the weeks until the contracts are signed and we can legally announce who the performers will be.

We can’t promise that your favorite artist will perform this year, but we can promise that your feedback will be the single most important factor in determining the show. And we promise to do everything in our power to make the process as transparent as possible, and to ensure that on April 29, everyone has a great time.

We hope all of these things will make the day worth living for, regardless of who headlines, and welcome your continual feedback — whether you have an idea for an opening act, or a cousin named Kanye who might be willing to perform at Yale.

Thanks and, as always, e-mail your YCC representatives or ycc@yalestation.org with any questions or concerns.

Rebecca Taber ’08, Emily Schofield ’09, Harrison Marks ’10, David Narotsky ’08, Bobby Gibbs ’10 and Colin Leatherbury ’09 are the YCC e-board and Spring Fling co-chairs.