Edmond Memorial High School’s annual fundraising week, Swine Week, has returned. This means the beloved tradition of new sweatshirt designs based on the theme made by Royalty has also come back. With six stylish looks, things can’t go wrong, or can they? 

Since mostly everyone enjoys participating in the fun, sweatshirts are a big deal for people who want to represent the school spirit and donate to the cause. 

The first design is relatively simple with a white background and shooting star, plain and cute. The other patterns are similar as they have the theme of Swine Week, “Around the Boarld,” printed on them. 

I also enjoy the other sweatshirts with the sayings of “Swine Week 2023” and “Can’t put a cost on kindness.” There is truly a sweatshirt everyone will enjoy, and they are stylish to say the least. 

The controversial part of the release was not the design of one of the sweatshirts, but rather the meaning behind it. One of the prints released for a hoodie had the words “Astroboarld – It’s for the kids,” acting as a play on the words “Astroworld.” 

“Astroworld” is a popular album and music festival produced by Travis Scott that has gained attention in the past years but not for a good reason. On the first night of the festival in 2021, a large crowd crash occurred that was seemingly brushed off by Scott, and this incident cost the lives of 10 individuals, giving the festival and name “Astroworld” a bad reputation ever since. 

Some students were curious as to why this allusion was added to one sweatshirt’s design this year, as it was a tragic night for many who attended the festival and their families. I don’t think it is necessarily offensive or has bad intentions; rather it could be seen simply as in poor taste for those who approved the sweatshirt. A question came to mind: was it really necessary to add it to the collection just because the name rhymes with “world?”  

“Astroworld” is also not very popular anymore releasing in 2018, and the songs are not currently trending. Adding something loosely out of trend makes the design feel irrelevant, especially after the tragedy surrounding the name. I do not know if an event that took several young lives is really “for the kids.”  

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the sweatshirt designs from this year and believe there is something appealing about each one for everyone. However, I understand the backlash revolving “Astroboarld,” but also see how it could’ve been not very well thought out and used because it was an easy title. 

 Contact Grace Swisher at [email protected]