Photo by Carrie Phillips

Fall WILD, a Student Programming Board (SPB)-run biannual concert, is cancelled due to student safety concerns.

Administrators announced the cancellation on the Campus Life Instagram page on Friday night, Oct. 14. The administrators wrote that SPB has been meeting with the University throughout the fall to discuss concert-related safety concerns. Some concerns have yet to be resolved, and some are “outside of the University’s and SPB’s control.”

They specifically noted that a maximum number of 3,500 students would be able to attend the concert “based mostly on exit egress capacity for attendees” and that the University does not currently have “a ticketing and student-ID-verification process in place to fairly distribute tickets to limit attendance.” 

This announcement follows last Spring’s WILD concert, which drew in approximately 5,000 students after four consecutive WILDs were cancelled due to the pandemic.  

“During the event, we experienced significant challenges with the number of attendees and with the actions of some attendees pushing up against the front of the stage, creating significant safety concerns,” the administrators wrote of last year’s WILD.

Campus Life and SPB met throughout the fall to discuss solutions to safety concerns, “including the possibility of moving WILD from [Brookings] Quad to Mudd Field,” but they were unable to reach a solution “that addresses safety concerns and event logistics for the Fall semester.”

The administrators ended their statement looking towards the Spring semester. They wrote that Campus Life “is focusing on supporting SPB in […] planning for the WILD that is scheduled for Spring 2023. This includes looking at different venue options…we remain committed to planning future safe and high-quality events for our student community.”

The announcement’s signatories were Peggy Hermes, Associate Director for Campus Life; Jasmine James, Coordinator for Programming and Marketing for Campus Life; Stan Sweeney, Executive Director for Campus Life; and Rob Wild, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs & Dean of Students.