After a week of complaints about booking Action Bronson for “Spring Fling” on April 2, the GWU Program Board announced Thursday it has dropped the New York rapper from the show. But while that may have satisfied some students, others are now getting their moment to be upset with the Board—in a little over an hour, a petition to reinstate Bronson as the spring concert headliner received 300 signatures.
Earlier today, the Board announced in a Facebook post that Bronson was being axed from the bill because he “is not consistent with our values of diversity and inclusion.” The post also named DC rapper GoldLink, who was previously the opening act, as the new “Spring Fling” headliner.
The Program Board has decided to remove Action Bronson from Saturday’s setlist. We apologize to the GW community for…
Posted by GWU Program Board on Thursday, March 31, 2016
This decision comes following a statement on Facebook from university organization GW Students Against Sexual Assault and a strongly worded editorial in the GW Hatchet. Students also started a petition to get the rapper removed, but it only received 349 signatures in three days—a meager rate compared to how fast people seem to be boarding the “reinstate Bronson” train.
In an email to Washingtonian, program board chair Seth Gold says that Bronson’s cancelation wasn’t due to any single complaint but rather an overall feeling of unease amongst the student body. “Ultimately, the decision was made out of a concern for survivors of sexual violence and others who felt marginalized by Bronson. Spring Fling is meant to be a welcoming event for all students,” he says.
