By Jack McLoone

On the whole, Fordham students have high expectations for Spring Weekend.

The above thought is the only semi-rational reasoning I can come up with for a vocal minority to push for Sean Kingston to remain as the Spring Weekend concert headliner. These same groups—namely @jesulituniversity and @barstoolfordham — also had a fit when Soulja Boy was removed from the weekend.

However, wanting a good concert is no reason to disregard Jesuit values or basic human empathy and reason. The Jesulits and Barstool Fordhams of the world/campus are mad because of a misguided understanding of the process, or maybe just some deep-seeded inferiority complex originating in their desire to emulate a fraternity.

On Thursday, Fordham’s United Student Government (USG) met with a student group that was advocating for Sean Kingston to be removed from Spring Weekend following the revelation that he had settled an alleged gang rape case out of court to the tune of a $5 million settlement in 2013. USG ultimately released a statement advocating for the removal of Kingston as the performer.

“We feel that hosting Sean Kingston contradicts our Jesuit identity, specifically Cura Personalis and being Men and Women for and with others,” the statement said. “We believe that his presence on campus is a direct undermining of these ideals. While we recognize that under the law, all are innocent until proven guilty, as men and women for and with others, we must not participate in the silencing of sexual assault survivors, rather we are called upon to raise their voices.”

It’s worth pointing out here that this USG statement is not an official cancelling of Sean Kingston. Campus Activities Board has, as of now, yet to make a decision. The group has also, understandably, come under fire for its seemingly lax vetting process for artists.

Both Jesulit and Barstool Fordham, those last bastions for good-time havers at Fordham, were upset. Barstool Fordham’s Instagram story featured screenshots of the USG statement saying, “This is why we can’t have nice things…,” “These reports were proven to be false” and “Can you imagine being the voice of the student body and being this out of touch with the fordham community.”

Well, for one, settling out of court is most definitely not “proving something false” and instead often occurs in order to avoid litigating the case and exposing the truth.

Second, what “Fordham community” is Barstool Fordham talking about, exactly? My Fordham community hangs t-shirts in support of sexual violence victims outside of the McGinley Center and has a USG committee solely focused on lessening sexual violence. My Fordham gathers to hear stories and experiences from people of all walks of life. My Fordham community doesn’t get mad online because someone with more than a modicum of empathy and who doesn’t spend their days posting voyeuristic shots of people hooking up at bars is looking to do a net positive for the school by cancelling a problematic (to put it lightly) performer that has already been canceled by schools like UConn.

The Jesulit account also disagrees with USG’s statement and gets in on questioning whether they are truly “representative.” Well, seeing as how its members are elected by the student body — the polls closed on Friday — yes. It’s on you if you don’t see yourself represented; run for office or vote if you think otherwise.

I should note that Jesulit made fun of CAB’s selection, posting a meme making fun of the group for selecting “2000’s rappers” over “relevant artists.” If you don’t think that it was a good choice, why are you fighting for him to remain in the concert?

These two groups also have decided to take their absurd and misguided anger and turn it into a “movement,” asking students to email Cody Arcuri, the assistant dean for student involvement. First when it was announced that Soulja Boy was being removed from the concert and now with the threat of the same fate to Sean Kingston.

It’s, again, worth noting that one of the emails to Arcuri that Jesulit promoted on its Instagram story was upset with the decision to remove Soulja Boy and replace him with Sean Kingston because no one supposedly cared about Kingston while Soulja Boy has good songs. That was the kind of reaction to a performer being removed following an arrest for violating his probation by having gun ammo in his home. He also had his home searched after a woman accused him of kidnapping and beating her in February.

Someone who still wants him to be the performer despite all of that so they can stumble through “Crank That” on Martyrs’ Lawn is supposedly more “representative” of Fordham than USG and others who were happy with that decision and also want Kingston removed.

So Barstool Fordham, Jesulit and those of you that agree with them: what exactly is your game plan here? Are you okay with implicitly disbelieving a woman’s claim of sexual assault because she was paid a large sum in a settlement so you can listen to “Fire Burning” with your shirt off? Are you okay with promoting the antagonization of CAB, USG and Dean Arcuri because someone took something away from you and you simply can’t seem to handle disappointment? Are you okay with promoting the kind of toxic culture that allows celebrities to commit sexual violence but continue to perform because they make you want to dance?

You didn’t have to come to a Jesuit school. But you did and, by consequence, are being exposed to morals that you may not believe in at all. You are free to choose to ignore them, but you can’t do so while also claiming to speak for the entire community. Maybe take some time to engage with a wider portion of Fordham than your Instagram followers instead of posting potshots on your stories.