By Aislinn Keely
For those who are still mourning the end of “Drake and Josh,” Campus Activities Board (CAB) is giving Fordham students the opportunity to look back on a childhood classic with Josh Peck booked to speak at Spring Weekend.
The famed show has been over for more than a decade, but Peck remains relevant to the generation that grew up watching the mismatched step-brothers on screen. He has cultivating a large following on YouTube and the now defunct platform Vine, as well as having starred in films like Red Dawn.
CAB Speaker Committee Co-Chairs Sean Rilley, FCRH ’20, and Sophia Woody, FCRH ’19, said Peck was the committee’s first choice.
“We thought Josh would be perfect because it is likely that almost every student at Fordham knows who he is, has seen ‘Drake and Josh’ or some of Josh’s work at some point in their life, and for those who grew up watching ‘Drake and Josh,’ he brings a feeling of nostalgia and fun,” they said.
Rilley and Woody said they believe their age group has been Peck’s main demographic since the start of his career, and that his career has grown to stay relevant to the age bracket.
“Obviously, he was one of the stars of ‘Drake and Josh,’ which was incredibly popular when we were younger and still brings back nostalgic sentiments today for many college students,” they said. “But beyond that, he has starred in movies like Red Dawn and had a prominent presence on Vine, and he continues to stay relevant in popular culture with his successful and continuously growing YouTube channel.”
The co-chairs said they expect a large crowd for Peck’s speech and have booked the Lombardi Field House to accommodate growing numbers. Last year, Ice-T’s speaking location was moved from McGinley Ballroom to Lombardi Field House when numbers were higher than anticipated.
Rilley and Woody said they anticipate an even larger crowd for Peck.
“The biggest difference in the process this year is that we specifically planned for the event to be in the Lombardi Fieldhouse…We are hoping that this year’s speaker brings in an even larger audience than Ice-T did last year, and we have taken steps to be prepared for this reality,” said the co-chairs.
In addition to this change, the format of the speech will differ from previous years, according to Woody and Rilley. This year’s speaker event will be moderated as a conversation-style talk, rather than the traditional podium speech. Rilley and Woody said this will create something different from previous speaker events.
“This will allow for a fun, natural flow and something different from what students have seen in the past,” they said.
The process of booking Peck began in early January, according to the co-chairs. At that time they began conversations with their agent before narrowing down their final three candidates and submitting one page proposals for each candidate to the Office of Student Involvement (OSI).
“Once those candidates were approved by OSI, we considered which would really be the best fit for Spring Weekend,” they said. “We wanted to pick the speaker with the best message and overall appeal to Fordham students, and we believe that our decision accomplishes that goal.”
After OSI approval, CAB made offers to the candidates and ultimately negotiated contracts with Peck after his acceptance. Woody and Rilley said this is the standard process for booking the Spring Weekend speaker.
“For both of us, this is our first year in positions that plan one of the major Spring Weekend events, but the process is very standard, and we followed the guide that has been passed down to us by our predecessors,” they said.
Woody and Rilley said they hope Peck brings a motivational and positive message for students as the year comes to a close.“Josh has had an ability to stay popular with our age group, and we believe that right now would be the perfect time to have him as a guest at Fordham, and we are excited to listen to what he has to say,” they said.
