Henry Gamble, News Editor—

The annual Denison Day concert hosted by the University Programming Council was held this past Saturday on the Reese Shackelford Commons.
This year’s artist, Waka Flocka Flame, followed in the footsteps of many notable D-Day performers of the past such as Whitney, Matt and Kim and Denzel Curry. Patrick Fina and Alli Kulbago, the staff co-advisors to UPC, work with the student-led organization to help bring life to annual events like D-Day.

“This event is driven by UPC and we want to support their vision and whatever they want to do for the community,” Kulbago explained.

For Tra Vo ‘25, a studio art major who serves as the Marketing and Public Relations director for UPC, D-Day attempts to offer students a break from their academics with free performances and food. Since the beginning of her involvement in UPC her sophomore year, Vo has worked to improve her
graphic design capabilities as well as her work ethic within the organization, a commitment which she said has “pushed me to go beyond my boundaries.”

In selecting an artist for D-Day, Vo highlighted the difficulties of balancing student input.

“We always try our best to consider student input, yet it doesn’t always work out 100%,” she said.

The process of booking performers is undertaken by both UPC and CLIC, which begins as early as June. In an attempt to engage with Denison’s student body, Fina explained that as far back as last semester, students were encouraged to fill out surveys indicating their preferences of genres of music and artist of choice for this year’s D-
Day concert.

Using this list, UPC and CLIC worked with a middle agent to find an artist who was within the booking budget and comparable in sound and performance to the suggestions by students.

Vo explained tha this feedback loop continues even after the performance, as UPC asks students for feedback and modes of possible improvement for future D-Day concerts.

The D-Day tradition has looked very different in previous years, Fina explained. The event was once held in the Mitchell Center much later in the semester, with the headlining artist being announced at the conclusion of UPC’s Gala event. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, D-Day has shifted to an outdoor location and is held earlier in the semester to
ensure better weather.

The current location of the event on the Reese-Shackelford Commons additionally allows for the large-scale community cookout which precedes the performances and is an integral part of bringing the Denison community together for D-Day.

Vo, who has worked to advertise UPC’s events through social media posts and graphic design for the last two years hopes to attract more and more Denison students to UPC events.

More information about UPC’s upcoming events such as the Gala, Winterfest, Lunar New Year, and Aestavalia, will be available soon on social media and posters across campus designed by Vo.