The Fling Concert sure has come a long way since my freshman year, when about 28 slack-jawed Sonic Youth fans huddled around a makeshift stage at Wynn Commons to see their favorite band put on a memorable and really tight performance.

Friday’s show was in many ways the inverse of 2005 — thousands of students stood on Franklin Field’s bleachers, happily grooving to mainstream-approved music of no real substance. But if the performances were generally underwhelming, the crowd’s enthusiasm was truly awe-inspiring. In my four years here I’ve never seen the student body come together with that kind of energy.

Some notes:

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It’s been 7 years since Ludacris Rolled out. 7 years since we first asked, “What you got in that bag?”

It’s been even longer — 8 years — since ‘Cris showed us his Southern Hospitality. I don’t even remember how to drop ‘bows on ‘em.

So why make Ludacris the headlining act for Penn’s 2008 Spring Fling? I think it’s because SPEC hates music and the student body. SPEC also hates intimate venues with tight acoustics (ie, Wynn Commons). That’s why this year’s concert will be held at Franklin Field, where it will surely carry all the excitement of a Penn football game.

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Bush’s brain. Boy genius. The Architect. Turd Blossom.

Call him what you want, but there’s no denying that Karl Rove is one of the most brilliant and sought-after speakers in the world. An overwhelming sense of merriment was palpable on Penn’s campus on Monday, when SPEC officially announced that the former Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush would be the spring keynote speaker.

Many Penn students acknowledged the value of a Rove address on a SPEC online survey. SPEC Connaissance co-director Elana Wilf said there was great student interest in a speaker who is “controversial and political.” Ms. Wilf and her colleagues rightfully translated this to mean “Karl Rove.”

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Straight from the pages of today’s DP:

“We chose The Roots because they’re a group that attracts a wide audience,” College junior and SPEC-TRUM co-director Efe Johnson said.

Ironic how it was the organizers of the DP-dubbed “Minority Fall Show” who figured out this elusive formula for success.

Hopefully SPEC was taking notes.

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