Photo by Genevieve Humphreys

Student Programming Board (SPB) had been working since January to put together this year’s Welcome Week Concert featuring rapper Fetty Wap. When the day came, there was a concert provided for the students, but Fetty Wap was not a part of it.

After an emergency landing due to weather conditions, Fetty Wap was unable to perform at the concert. Senior Dylan Welling, concert chair of the SPB, explains that his nonappearance was no one’s fault.

“No one had any control over what happened. SPB couldn’t do anything, our agents couldn’t do anything, Fetty Wap himself couldn’t do anything. No one had any control over him not being there. When it got down to it, it was because of the weather and how do you control that?” Welling asked.

Sophomore Lucy Chavez attended the concert with some friends and was excited to see Fetty Wap.

“Initially, I was having a great time. The music that the DJ played was great, and I had a fun time dancing with my friends. However, after a couple hours passed, my friends and I were tired, hot, and becoming impatient. The only reason why we stayed was because we were expecting Fetty Wap to show up,” Chavez said.

Students and SPB alike were caught off-guard.

“I mean we’ve been doing this for so many years, and this is the first time that someone has just downright not shown up. When something like this happens, there comes a point where you start playing a political game. You really just make the best decisions that you can that you think is best for everybody. We did what we had to when we needed to do it,” Welling said.

SPB was informed of Fetty Wap’s plane complications sometime earlier in the day but found out around 8:30 p.m. that he was not going to show up. Chavez believes it would have been better if they were more transparent.

“I’m pretty disappointed about how long it took for news of his cancellation to reach the students,” Chavez said. “I’m not sure when organizers found out that Fetty couldn’t make it, but it seems like his cancellation was initially hidden from students. I would have preferred that the entire event was just canceled or rescheduled sooner. Why make students wait outside in the heat for someone that won’t perform?”

SPB revealed that while they have ideas about what to do next, they haven’t had enough time to make concrete plans since the concert.

“We’re still trying to get all of our heads straight and trying to adjust to what is happening. The adaption portion really comes in once we have more information on where we’re at, in terms of what are the results; where are we budget-wise, where are we staff wise, what can we do with what we have left?” Welling said.

Shannon Twumasi, SPB’s advisor, explains that they are currently looking into the contract they signed with Fetty Wap’s agency.

“He was contractually obligated to come on Aug. 24, 2019, and he didn’t. There are different clauses in the contract that state under what conditions a rescheduling needs to happen. He missed the concert due to x, y and z, so does that fit the contract? Are we obligated to now reschedule, yes or no?” Twumasi asked.

The Welcome Week artist is not paid until they perform at Trinity, so SPB still has the $55,000 that was initially supposed to go towards Fetty Wap.

However, because of the costs of barricades, t-shirts, and additional expenses, they are not at their full concert budget of about $90,000.

“We did not pay him yet so we are not out that money, but there were other costs that were incurred due to putting on a production. We haven’t added them all up completely, but we’re out money,” Twumasi said.

Chavez thinks that SPB should put the money intended for Fetty Wap towards something else.

“I was upset but I understand why he had to cancel,” Chavez said. “I’d prefer if the money initially used for Fetty was put to better use.”

Junior Mabel Fowler disagreed.

“I would definitely attend a concert if he was brought back to Trinity and I’m sure a lot of my peers feel the same way,” Fowler said.

Fetty Wap or not, SPB has all agreed that they want to put on a concert for the Trinity community.

“[A Welcome Week Concert] is something that people always look forward to and so we still want to make sure we provide an experience. Now will there be Cheesy Jane’s and 400 free T-shirts? Probably not. But we still want to provide some sort of experience with the funds that we have left. It’s just determining who and when,” Twumasi said.