Shauna Simeone / Opinion Editor
When I first heard that spring week cost around $70,000, my innate reservations about spending large amounts of money on extraneous activities rose to the forefront of my mind. But after taking a closer look at spring week in general, it is clear that it was a complete success that was fun and enjoyable for all kinds of students.
According to Sarah Rine, the Assistant Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development who works directly with CAN and Spring Week, said that there was record turnout at this year’s spring week events. Around 850 people showed up to D.L. Hughley, and there was a packed house at the regurgitator on Thursday.
Rine said that CAN’s overarching goal for this year’s spring week was to appeal to a diverse audience. This was definitely accomplished. CAN collaborated with various campus groups such as the SGA, NAACP, and Geography and Tourism, in order to get input from various organizations on what they believed would make this Spring Week great.
The immense variety of activities made it hard for any student to not find something that suited their tastes. For music lovers there was an outdoor concert on Saturday featuring Streetlight Manifesto. Students who aren’t into that type of music could attend the NAACP lip sync contest to get their Biz Markie fix. Between comedy, ice cream, music, canoeing, and fish, everyone could find something that they enjoyed.
CAN President, Chelsea Bombria, commented on how they were able to make this Spring Week fun for all students.
“There is no one person in CAN who makes a decision. We each bring ideas to our meetings, discuss the pros and cons of that specific event and decide if the majority of students would enjoy it,” she said. “ We found the bands this year that we thought would appeal to a large percentage of our student body and it turns out we were right.”
One highlight of the week was the cardboard canoe race that was held on Tuesday night. The energy at this event was fantastic, and students showed up in great costumes such as one duo that dressed up as robots made from cardboard boxes.
The culmination of Spring Week was the outdoor concert on Saturday.
“It all came together on Saturday at our concert. We had music, food, a huge variety of novelties, carnival games and prizes, minigolf, a bungee jump, and rock wall, and it was beautiful out,” Bombria said. “There was something for everyone there.”
After observing the chaotic crowds and out of control partying that ensued at UCONN during their spring weekend, CCSU should be proud that we were able to pull together a week that was fun, without being out of control.
This says something about the CCSU students and faculty. Too many times students confuse college as a place to build a future, with a place to go crazy without responsibilities. The organized and well-managed activities that occurred during Spring Week at CCSU created an environment that unified the CCSU community in a feeling of excitement and fun.
The time and effort that CAN put into organizing Spring Week definitely paid off. The great turnouts definitely show that students were receptive to their ideas, and their theme of appealing to all types of students was something that ensured fond memories for all who got involved.
