Program Board recently announced that singer Regina Spektor will headline this year’s Spring Fling celebration. As in years past, the choice to bring an underwhelming performer to this event highlights overall problems with the festival and with Program Board’s approach to programming at GW in general.

While Spektor is an up-and-coming singer in her own right, she certainly is not the type of performer that will generate a huge buzz on campus and attract students to Spring Fling. Although she may one day become an A-list celebrity, at this point GW students want something more for the event.

Unfortunately, even the selection of a big-time act would not be enough to save Spring Fling from its malaise. The festival currently serves as an afterthought on campus, with students arriving for the free food, commercial giveaways and the singer. In recent years, there has been no real excitement about this annual festival or its counterpart, Fall Fest. It’s just something to do – not something that everyone wants to do.

Program Board organizes a number of smaller events on campus each year, events that take up time and resources that could otherwise have gone to the major programs. In the end, these programs are nearly useless, as GW’s diverse plethora of student groups adequately fulfill the needs for such smaller events.

While planning for this year’s Spring Fling is complete, Program Board should consider changing its approach to entertaining students. Rather than wasting time with mundane initiatives organized by needless committees, this organization should limit its scope and focus on the big-time events that could become a campus staple.

Such a shift in focus should also allow for Spring Fling and Fall Fest to be expanded to a festival that GW can get excited about. These events should take place all over campus, utilizing street festivals, smaller student events at venues outside University Yard and other interactive experiences. In the end, such a festival could draw in more GW students as well as more students from throughout the region.

This year’s Spring Fling will not be an unpleasant or negative experience for GW; however, it will not generate the buzz that this campus needs. Ultimately, this should be the purpose of Spring Fling and Fall Fest, and Program Board should do all it can to make these celebrations a true GW tradition that students actively look forward to.