17 Oct More than just a Guilty Pleasure: A Look into ASI’s Chappell Roan Night
Your favorite artist’s favorite artist makes her Associated Students Inc. debut and impacts campus in more ways than one.
The Inauguration of the Midwest Princess
Students check in and enter Chappell Roan Night / Credit: ASICSUF on Flickr.
In Sept. 2023, Chappell Roan released her debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.” At the time, she had less than one million monthly listeners on Spotify. Over a year later, Roan has amounted to over 45 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone.
From the minds of the events and programming team, ASI hosted a Chappell Roan night on Oct. 8, in celebration of all things Midwest princess. Joining the likes of Sabrina Carpenter night, this an event meant to appreciate a prominent pop culture figure in student’s lives.
Welcome to the Pink Pony Club
Reysha Fierce dances with the life-size Chappell Roan cutout / Credit: ASICSUF on Flickr.
Today’s pop princess got the royal treatment during ASI’s Chappell Roan Night. In collaboration with the Losquadro Keller LGBTQ Resource Center and the Fullerton Fashion Association, ASI hosted a jam-packed event.
Standing center stage and ready to steal people’s hearts was CSUF student Johnrey Nesbitt, aka. Reysha Fierce, the event’s host and drag queen performer. She stole the show throughout the night with her energetic performances and crowd-winning energy. Fierce also made sure to highlight the true star of the show: the Chappell Roan cutout that attendees could take pictures with.
“Everybody was fierce. When we were doing the ‘HOT TO GO!’ choreo, everyone was doing it, everyone participated, and everyone felt fierce! It was so good,” stated Fierce about her night.
When not dancing or mingling, attendees could sit, grab a themed Chappell Roan drink and decorate a wooden horseshoe.
Super Ultra Graphic Modern Fashion
Ary Correa poses as she takes the spotlight on the runway / credit: ASICSUF on Flickr.
The night’s main event was the fashion show in collaboration with the Fullerton Fashion Association, led by club president Roman Fu.
“A lot of people in our fashion community are really excited by the changes that Chappell is implementing. We think that by promoting fashion in an all-inclusive environment, we are better able to get out the message of acceptance and inclusivity,” states Fu.
In total, 13 people entered for the chance to be crowned winner of the fashion show. Ultimately, CSUF second-year Ary Correa took home the win with her rendition of the Midwest princess herself.
While the night was filled with music, fun and fierceness, there was much more at play than met the eye.
A Kaleidoscope of Art and Representation
Reysha Fierce leads the crowd in a capitivaating performance of “HOT TO GO!” / Credit: ASICSUF on Flickr.
While Roan’s music is filled with a dance-pop flare, people have found a sense of community with her lyrics. The story of how Chappell Roan came to be started with a girl from the Midwest dreaming of coming to terms with her own queerness and struggling with believing she had a space in queer culture. ASI’s spotlight brought together students who love Roan’s music and want to embrace their queerness and queer culture on campus.
“Giving people the opportunity to just be who they want to be is always a positive, especially since the school is backing it up and ASI is a big part of campus; it’s only a good thing,” states Kayla Lam, ASI programs and events coordinator. ASI planned the event to fall during annual Coming Out Week, and the event itself landed on International Lesbian Day. “We realized it was a good opportunity to create some sort of community,” reiterated Lam.
To emphasize the queerness surrounding Chappell Roan, ASI partnered with the Losquadro Keller LGBTQ Resource Center to make sure students had resources to learn more about queerness and the queer community throughout the night.
“It’s important to support queer visibility on campus and in the community. It’s great that other organizations on campus are putting on LGBT-related events,” said Nat Betancourt, senior coordinator at the LK LGBTQRC.
“With what’s going on with the political sphere, we need to show the world that we are here, and we are proud to be ourselves and that we are people,” stated Myriad Hall, LK LGBTQRC communications and graphic design student assistant lead. “It’s because of our resilience that we’re here, so we’re here to show them the resilience that kept us here for as long as it did,” stated DeDe Getahun, LK LGBTQRC community engagements student assistant lead.
Picture You in Her Music
Three students takes a selfie with Reysha Fierce / Credit: ASICSUF on Flickr.
Roan’s debut album is the story of embracing oneself and how important it is to embrace your own queerness in a fun and exciting way. While Roan herself speaks of woman-loving woman experiences, her songs have a broader appeal to anyone within the queer community.
“A lot of people are too afraid to come to terms with themselves, so it’s really nice to be in a nice, comforting space for students who kind of feel lost to go to and know that there’s always a safe place to go,” said fashion show winner Ary Correa.
“It gives me hope that I can be open about [my queerness] while creating, and there’s no shame in it, and I get together with other people and celebrate it,” said Mikaela Clark, CSUF third-year transfer student, “It makes me proud to be gay.”
“This campus so far has been pretty accepting, and it’s nice to see [queer representation] more,” stated CSUF first-year Luka Fuller. “It’s very inspiring to see a lesbian artist be put into a spotlight like this.”
Overall, Titans loved getting in touch with other Chappell Roan fans and embracing their queerness, just as Roan herself has.
Good Luck, Babe
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Chappell Roan has found immense success in 2024. From making music people enjoy to opening the world of queer culture more mainstream audiences, Roan achieved pop princess status.
ASI’s Chappell Roan spotlight brought Titans together to celebrate and bring forward a voice for the queer community and culture.