‘Timeflies’ Gives “Shout-out” to President Stanley at Ozfest 2015
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlS0SBjY9GU” width=”1280″ height=”720″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-1VoSth_ag&feature=youtu.be[/su_youtube]
After 27 people were arrested on drug and alcohol related charges at last year’s “Bridge Street Run” pub crawl, and several student heroin overdoses led to three hospitalizations and one death on the same day, SUNY Oswego Administrators attempted to curtail the affects of BSR this year with the first ever Ozfest.
Students and Administrators agree it was one of the biggest events of the entire year and for many students it was highly anticipated.
“Anytime we bring a big name artist like Big Sean or Timeflies to the campus, I think it’s going to draw a pretty good crowd,” said Shannon Brooks, one of the many staff organizers of Ozfest.
“Oswego is not really a huge school so, it’s exciting to have really big people visiting us,” said Oswego State Freshman Abby McCormick-Foley.
The four main stage acts of the night included Big Sean, B.O.B., Mac Miller, and TImeflies. More than 2,000 people bought tickets to see these four acts perform. SUNY Oswego President Deborah said in spite of tragic events last year it was important to reach out to the students and offer a safer alternative.
“The students know it’s all about them today and I’m so impressed with the magnitude of this event,” said Stanley.
President Stanley also received a special shout-out on stage Cal Shapiro of “Timeflies”. Shapiro said he enjoys making freestyle raps about places he travels to, and with the help of Oswego Student Association’s outgoing president Tucker Sholtes, Shapiro included many things about Oswego in his improvised rap, including Harborfest, QUEST Day, and President Stanley.
“I think it’s such a testament to what kind of artist (Shapiro) is,” said Sholtes. “He took the time to make sure he was going to deliver a freestyle that would mean something to the students and I think he did that.”
President Stanley said she was late to the concert and missed her shout-out, but immediately when it happened, she received texts from her friends about it.
“I laughed!” said Stanley, “Of course, I was planning to come over anyway in a little while, but it felt good.” Shapiro from Timeflies also gave advice to students who hope to become famous artists themselves.
“Don’t be afraid to put stuff out,” said Shapiro. “We held onto our stuff too tightly when we were in college…If you put your stuff out there, someone will hear it, so make it happen.”
Although many still participated in BSR Activities instead of attending Ozfest, there were less than half as many drug and alcohol related arrests this year compared to 2014.
Here is the arrests record released on May 9th, 2015 by the City of Oswego Police.
Charges
Driving while Intoxicated- 1
Disorderly Conduct- 4
Resisting arrest- 1
Warrants- 2
Loud Noise Ordanance Citations- 2
Domestic Harassment- 1
Open Container- 2
The school has not made an official announcement about an Ozfest 2016, but both Sholtes said he is optimistic for an even bigger and better concert next year.
“I never thought it would amount to anything like this,” Sholtes said. “I think we can only go up from here.”
