As sophomore Arya Jathal checked her social media platforms she was surprised that they have all been flooded with information and stories about rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival in Houston, where a crowd surge resulted in the deaths of eight people, including two teenagers Saturday. 

“After the Astroworld concert happened, when I opened all my social media apps like Tik Tok, Instagram, and Snapchat my feeds were filled with information on what happened at the concert,” Jathal said. “Nobody was talking about how good the concert was. Instead they were discussing the atrocities that occurred.”

Astroworld is an annual music festival hosted by Scott, featuring many other popular artists perform leading up to his big performance in the evening. 

“I thought the whole concert was a great idea,” sophomore Adrian Delia said. “I am personally a big Travis Scott fan but the way that the venue was handled was horrendous. There were not enough medics or security whatsoever.” 

Flaws in festival planning, including allowing not anticipating the crowd size and a looseness in security, likely contributed to the deaths and hundreds of injuries.

“I think that next time any artist of that size performs, they should have an insane amount of security and there should be less people,” Delia said. “I also believe Travis Scott is partially responsible for the actions of his fans by encouraging them to rage and go crazy.”

According to reports, the medical and security teams also were greatly understaffed, making it difficult to aid individuals in need. Scott also has been personally criticized for the lack of staff and his choice of continuing to perform through the chaos.

Sophomore Jai Gandhi attended the Astroworld music festival but said his experience was much less traumatizing compared with most others on social media.

“I didn’t see any of the big stampedes and I stayed for the whole time,” Gandhi said. “I was pretty close to the front and there was no room to move. I think that it was chaotic, but not as chaotic as how much social media is making it.”

By Ethan Bergman