On Thursday, March 27, Grand Valley State University’s Campus Activities Board (CAB) announced on Instagram that the annual spring concert, which was set to take place in April, is canceled.
The concert is a favorite tradition of many GVSU students, as it first began in 2009 and has been a highly-anticipated event ever since. The post, which reads as follows, expresses CAB’s apologies and disappointment in the event’s unfortunate turn, and highlights efforts made to book artists despite implied multiple rejections.
“After careful consideration, we regret to announce the difficult decision to cancel the 2025 Spring Concert,” the statement declared. “We are sorry, and we acknowledge the disappointment that students may experience with this decision. We’re feeling it too. Multiple offers to a variety of artists were made, and despite our efforts, none of them were accepted. It is also important to note that while the Campus Activities Board is a student-led programming body within the Office of Student Life, there are times that decisions like these are made outside of students’ control.”
CAB leadership was unavailable for comment at the time of this article’s publication.
This year marks the sixth time in the Spring Concert’s 16-year history that it won’t be held. Most recently, in 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many of the post’s comments echoed disappointment, with several students commenting they’d “known” the Spring Concert would be canceled. Other students tagged artists such as Pitbull, Trippie Redd and Snoop Dogg asking them to “save” the event, or suggesting another Silent Disco be organized for the originally scheduled evening.
Dominic Asam, a senior at GVSU, noted he wasn’t surprised by students’ reactions.
“I think from a lot of students’ perspective in what I see online, people have really unrealistic expectations for the Spring Concert, and it’s ridiculous,” Asam said. “When you set standards so high, you’re gonna get disappointed every single time. I empathize with the CAB team because planning this is no cakewalk, but I get the disappointment as well. I also think it’s an opportunity to do something new.”
Before the announcement of the concert’s cancellation, students also commented on past CAB posts, asking who the performer for the event would be. As time ticked by and no announcement had been made, questions turned to suspicions regarding whether or not there would even be a Spring Concert at all. This was reiterated through multiple posts on the anonymous messaging app YikYak, with people going so far as to make jokes about performing in their front yards for the event.
Annah Stang, a junior at the University, emphasized she enjoys the annual Spring Concert due to its inherent sense of community.
“My favorite part of the concert is how much it can unify the campus community,” Stang said.
Still, Stang empathized with the student body, as well as CAB leadership, noting all individuals involved are likely feeling let down by the decision.
“I know it is a favorite event, and it’s hard not to feel disappointed,” said Stang. “However, I trust the students (that are) working hard to put on an event of this scale. I’m sure they are already feeling low, and it’s important to try to be understanding.”
Lorraine Tharnish, also a GVSU junior, has positive memories of past Spring Concerts. Tharnish noted that while she’d be excited to see a high-profile musician play, she’d also enjoy a local artist.
“My freshman year, lovelytheband played during the fall,” Tharnish said. “It was really fun (and) all of my friends enjoyed it. I would love to see a big artist, but I’d also be just as happy to see a smaller, more local band play.”
Regardless of the cancellation, it seems students are still looking forward to smaller, on-campus events hosted by CAB in the coming weeks. CAB has also published a survey to gauge feedback from students on future Spring Concert artists.
