Undertones canceled its annual National Coming Out Week student drag show Monday without a plan to reschedule the event.
Undertones President Armani Beck wrote in an email that the event, scheduled for Friday, was canceled due to a lack of student performers for the show.
“We had to cancel because there was a lack of interested performers,” Beck (junior-psychology) wrote. “The purpose of the drag show is to showcase student talent, and we considered hiring outside performers, but we really wanted it to be about the students. However, we can't have a student drag show without students.”
Students portrayed mixed reactions to the news. Some students were unaware of the show’s existence until they heard about its cancellation but said they would have attended the event.
Students Lauren McManemin and Neha Nagpal were disappointed by the news and unaware of its scheduled slot in National Coming Out Week’s events.
“It’s kind of a shame that there weren’t enough people to participate,” Nagpal (junior-biology) said.
McManemin (junior-health, policy and administration) echoed this sentiment. She added that the event showcased a good cause and that a friend of a friend had participated in it last year.
Both said that the show needed to be better advertised.
These students are not alone in their perception of the event as lacking significant publicity.
Students Chardonnai Johnson and David Martinez (senior-integrative arts) also said they had little to no knowledge of the event’s occurrence.
Johnson (senior-print journalism) said she had only known about the event because of an article as well as knowledge of the event happening last year.
Beck and Rainbow Roundtable President Jenny Shipley , however, believe the cancellation of this singular event will not affect the overall tone of National Coming Out Week.
“It’s understandable. I mean, they didn’t have enough students come over to participate,” Shipley (senior-mechanical engineering) said.
She later said, “It was sad [to hear about the cancellation], but we do have a lot of events going on this week.”
Beck said she expected that some students would be disappointed, but it should not take away from the week and its meaning.
“I was really worried [the cancellation’s effect on campus] but I tried repeatedly to explain that without performers the drag show couldn't occur,” Beck wrote. “People will be disappointed, but they can only be so upset because they didn't do anything to help prevent this.”
Beck continued to write, “National Coming Out Week is about pride and, with or without the show, this will be a fantastic week for many people.”
