Why Harvest Fest? Why not!

By Poppy Hanson Last updated Oct 5, 2023

Want to see some autumn leaves like these? Head to Harvest Fest and fixate your focus on some fall foliage! PHOTO CREDIT: POPPY HANSON ’25

It was announced this past Monday that the Association for Campus Entertainment (ACE) would be holding Harvest Fest, a “budget-friendly,” free-to-attend version of the Fall Fest concert. Many rumors had been circulating leading up to this announcement, and even more have arisen about future events after the fact. I had my own concerns, so I reached out to the president of ACE, Ileana Knight ’24, to ask her to clarify ACE’s decisions about Fall Fest and other upcoming events. She was kind enough to respond through email, and I wish to summarize those answers here.

We know that many clubs and organizations have felt major budget constraints; The Hill News has itself suffered major budget cuts. Harvest Fest is not an alternative or replacement for Fall Fest; it is instead a reimagining of the tradition using ACE’s current budget limitations. According to Knight, Harvest Fest “is a version of what Fall Fest can be, and is Fall Fest” (emphasis mine). In the place of a larger, more famous musical act, ACE has opted for a smaller act with many supplementary themed activities in partnership with the Light House, PAC and the Sustainability Farm. The band performing, Plastic Picnic, “is an upcoming band from NYC and is still in the genre that the campus had voted on last semester.” Knight also wrote that “… it has been hard to function as normal for ACE. We are trying our best to still put on events for the student body, and saving costs on Fall Fest seemed like the best option this year.”

Many students have brought up worries about Spring Fest both before and after the Harvest Fest announcement. Lots of rumors have already spread, mostly on YikYak, that the spring event will take advantage of a cheaper Fall Fest to be larger in scope. Unfortunately, given the aforementioned budget cuts, ACE is only trying to keep Spring Fest the same size as previous years. Knight writes, “We can’t promise Spring Fest will be bigger, but we are hoping that it can be the same size we have typically done in the past.”

Students are quick to blame Thelmo for budget cuts, but they are simply the messenger and making the most out of the dwindling amount of money they have. I also reached out to the president of Thelmo, Dean Brooker ’25, for comments on Thelmo’s influence on club budgets. Since 2020, the number of students at St. Lawrence University has dropped by 600, which means fewer students are paying into the Student Activities Fund (SLUSAF). Additionally, inflation has significantly reduced the fund’s spending power. Brooker wrote to me that

“Since 2020, the SLUSAF budget has decreased in size by around 28% due to the decrease in size of school. Inflation, paired with a decreased budget size, means many clubs, like ACE, have to rethink how they operate and what events to put on with the money they have… ACE received a budget decrease in line with most clubs in terms of percentage due to the decrease in number of students. ”

Brooker added that student clubs and organizations have discretion when it comes to allocating the funds they are given. The budget constraints that Harvest Fest has been created under are due to forces outside of Thelmo’s control, and to grant ACE extra funding to compensate would only worsen the issues of other student clubs and organizations.

We as students can be disappointed in the loss of the big-budget Fall Fest; but at the same time, we should take advantage of the student events that ACE can host, as they are simply doing the best with what they have. While Harvest Fest may be smaller in scope, I choose to see it as an opportunity for ACE to try out new, more widely accessible events.