The countdown has begun to one of Cornell’s most awaited events: Slope Day. The end-of-year daytime celebration where students enjoy live music and activities is set to take place on May 10, which rounds out to about six months and seven days until the big day.
To gauge student interest, the Slope Day Programming Board released a survey for students to express their opinions on a list of possible artists that could headline this year, which is available on the SDPB’s Instagram.
About 40 artists are included in the poll for this year, including bigger names such as Yung Gravy, JVKE, Sabrina Carpenter and Omar Apollo who all have over 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify each. However, the list also includes many other rising artists that span multiple genres like Highway, who has 49,000 monthly Spotify listeners.
Students have expressed mixed opinions on this year’s artist choices.
“They are not representative of the entire student’s body music taste or wants,” Jon Agramonte ’23 said. “I feel like the choice of artist is always the most divisive decision, and students always feel like they didn’t have enough choice or didn’t know the poll was going on.”
Angelina Vasquez ’26 was surprised to learn that there was an active poll happening since no one had mentioned it to her.
“I would never have seen that I would never have heard a thing,” Vasquez said. “I wish they would advertise it more.”
Amelia Okulewicz ’26 was pleasantly surprised by the potential lineup.
“I think the list is really strong this year,” Okulewicz said. “I think it represents a vast spectrum of music and it is representative of everyone’s music taste.”
Vasquez was also impressed by the artists and stated her preference for Omar Apollo and Suki Waterhouse.
The Slope Day Programming Board begins the process of selecting artists by researching popular musicians, asking for suggestions from the Board’s general body and talking to students on campus, said co-executive Peter McManus. They then narrow down the list by using online tools that can provide estimates about cost and availability. The Board works closely with the Campus Activities office, which reaches out to the artists’ agents to get a more reliable estimate.
“There are multiple factors at play in securing an artist, including final costs and artist availability. Sometimes there could be an artist in our budget, but they just aren’t available to perform on Slope Day,” McManus said. “Ultimately, this survey is supposed to be a tool to gauge the general student body’s interest.”
McManus urges the student body to fill out the artist selection survey.
“We’re not going to be able to make everyone happy, but we want to hear as many voices as we can,” McManus said.
The survey is open until Nov. 10, with just over 1,600 responses so far from undergraduates, graduate students and staff. Last year, the survey amassed 1,708 responses, a small response rate compared to the 15,735 undergraduate students at the University.
Last year, some students expressed disappointment over the Slope Day lineup and lack of awareness of the survey. But this year, students are still looking forward to the event.
“Slope Day is less about the music and more about having a good time with your friends after school ends,” Charlotte Pendock ’25 said.