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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Ritter rocks Mount Vernon Campus

Impending rain and a change in venue did not stop musician Josh Ritter from performing next to the fountain at the Mount Vernon Campus Saturday night.

Fountain Day, which celebrates the activation of the Mount Vernon quad fountain, was moved indoors to the Lloyd Gym because of predicted storms. At the end of Ritter’s show, he ran off stage while playing and led the 300-person crowd to the fountain where he ended the show.

“It’s called Fountain Day so it seemed a shame not to have the fountain be a part of it,” Ritter said after the show. “It didn’t end up raining so I figured we might as well do it. You can end shows the normal way all the time, why not end it in a weird way once in a while?”

Ritter, who gained fame performing in Ireland, said when he is on stage he does not think about the size of the show.

“I started playing in Ireland, but it is the same everywhere,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a small show or a big show; if you don’t love doing it, you shouldn’t be out there.”

Ritter and his band are on a 26-day tour, where they will perform 24 shows from New York to Kansas. The Fountain Day performance was the third stop on their tour.

In addition to Ritter, the concert featured sets by Langhorne Slim, a band touring with Ritter, and Old Springs Pike. Other events included making tie-dye shirts, a fortune teller, make-your-own potted plant and a henna tattoo artist.

This year’s theme was awareness, and several student organizations including GW Trails, AIESEC, Global Aids Campaign and WRGW lined up tables in the gym to inform students.

“We wanted to give a lot of different student organizations the opportunity to promote whatever issue they support,” said Kylee Grenis, a sophomore resident of the Mount Vernon campus who co-chaired event.

Dean of Freshmen Fred Siegel, who lives on the Mount Vernon Campus, said Fountain Day is very significant to the satellite campus.

“It is a tradition that comes from former Mount Vernon College,” Siegel sad. “It’s an end of the year blowout that solidifies the fact that the Vern is an integral part of GW.”

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