I am in the USA, I am Catholic but came to Catholicism from atheism through a Catholic Charismatic prayer group in London, so I am very open to the Spirit moving in ways we don’t expect.
I am quite the cynic (!) but so far this does seem authentic. Firstly because it developed from a very ordinary regular chapel service at the college, there wasn’t any emotional manipulation. An outside speaker preached but he was very low key. Then it was being lead by the students, especially the Gen Z generation. It hasn’t been about cult of personality, it’s an older university chapel, no big screens or light displays etc.
I was also impressed by the college president. I feel he has been very calm, measured and prudent. He hasn’t tried to prevent anything but also has not hyped it or got over emotional, quite the opposite. In the last few days (as they were into something like their 12th day) the college decided to create some structure. There will be one more week of public worship and then they will close the campus down to the public so that the students can return to normal. They will have an evening service every night though which will continue and will be open to any young people 18-25. I think this makes perfect sense, as they are obviously there to minister as a college to that age group and they don’t think it’s appropriate for the college to be overwhelmed by visitors. Safety is obviously also a concern.
They were encouraging local churches and local towns to open up to the thousands of pilgrims arriving. The campus was using 4 venues on campus for the overflow and having services outside on the campus lawn due to the enormous crowds (all waiting patiently in the freezing cold).
And yes they college made it clear that nobody famous or well known was going to have access to the sanctuary/stage/worship area. They seem to be attempting to stay focused on the Lord and especially want to prevent individuals hijacking something very organic and humble.
So many people were arriving that the small town was overwhelmed and they had to turn people away. This phenomenon has been spreading to other campuses. People were driving from all over the USA and flying in from all over the world. The majority however seem to be ordinary working class Americans of all ages but particularly young people.