“Psyched for Fling?!”
That's how Quakers greeted each other in the weeks preceding Spring Fling in 1985—at least, according to my parents, who were there to witness it (and say it). Thirty years later, we don’t say that anymore. Maybe it went out of style, like tube socks and male short–shorts. But it’s time to bring it back. Because, let’s face it: we are totally psyched for Fling.
We’re psyched to skip our Friday class and not care about how it affects our participation grade.
We’re psyched to pop bottles at 10am and keep the good stuff flowing past 10pm, alcohol monitors be damned.
We’re psyched to dance in Kesha’s shower of glitter, even though we didn’t win a floor pass because the flash sale ended one millisecond after it started.
We’re psyched to show the administration that no matter what, we’ll keep Flinging.
Psyched for Fling? Let's see it.
Best Fling Story?
- "The best Fling stories are the ones you can't remember."
- "Finding a bowling ball behind a bush by Castle and bowling at 3am on Locust Walk with empty handles...we didn't consider the broken glass."
- "I tried to bribe the security guard at the Quad gate to let me have sex in his booth. Didn't work even for a 100."
- "I kissed my mortal frenemy and wrote about it in Shoutouts."
- "Some guy tried to pick me up in broad daylight while crossing the street by telling me he 'liked my birthmark.' Awkward eye contact with a middle–aged couple crossing at the same time followed."
- "Freshman year my older sister visited and had to physically carry me to the Quad after I threw up in Zete's packing peanuts.
Five Questions with SPEC'S Billy Ford
The SPEC Concerts co–director dishes on flash sales, keeping secrets and his love of the song “Timber.”
Street: What did you think about the flash sign–ups for floor passes? Were they effective?
Billy Ford: There were some complaints online. A very vocal group. I kind of liked the way it worked, kind of half–and–half deal. I guess had there not been complaints, we wouldn’t have done the lottery, and I think both the lottery and the flash sales were successful.
Street: Has anyone ever bribed you to know the artist beforehand?
BF: Oh yeah. I’ve gotten bribes...But I remained tight–lipped! I can’t say anything.
Street: Did you ever come close to telling someone?
BF: One time that happened I was with Sudavip Choudhury, my co–director, and we kind of just gave each other a look and a nod. Otherwise, no. Sometimes as a joke, whenever we’re at like a party and any artist comes on we’ll yell out “Fling headliner? Is this a Fling headliner?” And every now and then maybe our artist came on, and it was one of the ones we were joking about.
Street: If Kesha brought you onstage, would you dance with her? Would you allow her to shower you in glitter?
BF: Oh, would I. Yes. I really want her to play “Timber” and I was looking for a spot in the contract where we could put "Please play 'Timber'.”
Street: Would you assume the Pitbull role for “Timber”?
BF: I think I know the words well enough to take on that role. Swing your partner round and round, end of the night it’s going down...yeah! See, I could do that.
Julia Liebergall is a senior from Suffern, New York majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing. She is a former Features and Highbrow editor for 34th Street. This is her final Fling, and she's psyched for it.
