Samra Khawaja
Contributing Writer
VCU’s Homecoming Committee announced Tuesday rappers Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar would headline the annual Homecoming concert Feb. 3, but it wasn’t quite the timeline students were expecting.
After postponing the big announcement twice, the Homecoming Committee announced on Twitter that they would be announcing the performing artist “at the start of the semester.”
The committee tried to field questions from frustrated students on their Facebook page, but student director Avery Jones said the announcement wasn’t really delayed.
“We wanted to make the concert one of the best – better than last year,” Jones said. “It wasn’t neccesarily a delay in this process. There’s a lot of things that go into this process.”
According to Jones, some details had to be finalized before the committee was ready to make the announcement. She said the decision doesn’t just go through the Homecoming Committee, but through other university organizations as well.
For freshman Victoria Cox, the perceived delay isn’t making a positive first impression of the annual Homecoming tradition.
“I thought that everything would be on time and be pleasing to the students,” Cox said. “The committee doesn’t seem like they have everything together, and I think anger, along with fear that Homecoming will not live up to our expectations, is what is making everyone antsy.”
Cox said she tried to contact the Homecoming Committee several ways, including a phone call, but the committee’s responses weren’t up to her standards.
“It seems as if they take forever to respond,” Cox said. “When they do respond, it is not the least bit helpful.”
Like Cox, VCU junior Devon Beach has tried repeatedly to contact the committee, not only to figure out who the surprise performer is, but also to get general information like the cost of tickets.
“(I) would like to know how much the concerts going to be and who’s going and if it’s worth it,” Beach said.
At VCU, Homecoming includes a week of festivities. Some of the festivities are the crowning of a Homecoming king and queen, a Chill-N-Grill and a concert at the conclusion of Homecoming week.
According to the committee’s CollegiateLink webpage, the Homecoming Committee was established in 2003 to “focus on bringing students and alumni together during the basketball season.”
However, this year’s situation is appearing to bring students together to rally against the committee instead of bolstering school spirit.
“(The Homecoming Committee is) losing opportunities to hype this concert because they are waiting (until the) last minute,” Beach said before the announcement.
The mixed messages have led some frustrated students, like Cox, to take action and run for next year’s Homecoming Committee to prevent a similar situation from happening.
“I feel as if the committee was not well prepared,” Cox said. “They can handle the situation in a better manner than they are doing so right now.”
VCU Homecoming week will kick off Jan. 30 and run through Feb. 4. A complete list of Homecoming activities can be found on the Homecoming VCU Facebook page.