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Ghostface Killah, Raekwon Top Upcoming Spring Fling Bill

Choice of Wu-Tang Clan members and show openers Walkmen and The Wavves elicits applause and dismay among students.

On the Wesleyan campus, spring has arrived, and with it the last full month of the school year. This is a favorite season for many students and Wesleyan is alight with lively activity and programs.

The clearest example of the student body’s burgeoning outdoor enthusiasm arrived this past Friday, with Wesleyan’s second Relay For Life. Traditionally, participants across the country create 24-hour relay teams for this national fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. This year students unveiled a new idea in attempts to generate more campus enthusiasm: “Carnival for a Cure.”

“Our goal is, come two, three years, people will know Relay for Life and be excited about it at the beginning of the year,” said Emma Caccamo, a class of 2013 student organizer.  Students set up the carnival, which included inflatables, snacks and music, directly in the center of campus. The carnival also included a large track, stretching around the baseball diamond for the relay participants.

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Student organizers have hopes to grow the event to the level of WesFest and Spring Fling, two campus traditions that receive considerable hype and are used as selling points for the university. This year's event raised more than $40,000 for cancer research, more than doubling last year’s total. “Everyone seemed really passionate.  I hope that our efforts this year will get even more students involved when we plan next year’s event,” said class of 2014 student Joey Schwartz.

Meanwhile, students have continued their grassroots entrepreneurial efforts in support of many other worthy causes. Students of the Full House community, a food-oriented program housing option, recently administered a “Cupcake Cup.” Led by Chloe Coates (2014) and Lila Becker (2012), the competition encouraged all themed-program houses and other groups to bake their own cupcakes. Students then paid $4 to sample the delicacies and vote on their favorites. Proceeds benefited Brighter Dawns, an organization that endeavors to create wells in the slums of Bangladesh. 

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When asked his favorite cupcake, student Dan Light, ’14, chose “The ResLife [Residential Life Staff] cupcakes … because I love the Cookie Monster frosting design and taste.”

As greenery continues to blossom on campus, environmentally conscious students have been building their efforts as well. Corey “Compost Guy” Guilmette has continued to encourage students to use environmentally friendly composts on campus. To encourage the support of newcomers, Guilmette noted that “in under a month of operation last semester, thanks to the help of around 800 participants, we were able to compost almost 300 gallons of food waste.” Though some campus composts were destroyed due to the heavy snow, six working composts remain spread across campus for students’ continued use.

In other campus news, the lineup for Spring Fling, the school’s largest concert of the year, was announced. Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah and Raekwon will headline the event, with opening performances by up-and-coming bands The Walkmen and The Wavves. The announcement received both applause and criticism, despite the Concert Committee’s attempts to cater to the unique music tastes of the Wesleyan student body. Nonetheless, many such as class of 2014 student Peter Cramer are excited for the May 5 outdoor show on Foss Hill in the center of campus.

“Ghostface and Raekwon are some of my favorite rap artists and I can’t wait to see them.”

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