Although the Pennsylvania Relays taking place this weekend are steeped in 109 years of tradition, one tradition that started in 1995 will not appear this year -- the Penn Relays concert has been scratched from the weekend's agenda.
After eight years of talented and popular musical guests, the branch of the Student Planning and Events Committee dedicated To Represent Undergraduate Minorities failed to replace 50 Cent after his manager canceled the performance in early March, according to Office of Student Life Director Fran Walker.
Explaining the lack of a replacement artist, Walker said that "the timing was a little tight" after the band withdrew in early March from the concert -- originally planned to take place on Friday night in Wynn Commons.
Past Penn Relays concert performers include Method Man, Jay-Z and The Fugees, among others.
SPEC-TRUM Co-Directors Alison Caryl, Nana Kankam and Micah Cunningham would not return repeated phone calls for comment.
SPEC President Maahir Haque would not comment on the cancellation of the Penn Relays concert, saying that SPEC-TRUM functioned autonomously from SPEC.
The annual concert was introduced in 1995 as a way for the group to provide "an activity that the entire Penn community and the rest of the patrons would enjoy," according to SPEC-TRUM's Web site.
Many Penn students said that they were unfazed by the rapper's withdrawal and the failure of SPEC-TRUM to book an alternate act.
College junior Rebekkah Hogan speculated that SPEC-TRUM "didn't go so far as to find one because they were scared of the controversy it might bring.... I definitely think there should have been a replacement group."
She added that the Penn Relay's concert crowd -- which draws spectators from inside and outside the Penn community -- is something that she thinks some students are intimidated by.
