Was Week of Welcome Welcoming?

From the famous Blood Battle in the Taggart Student Center to Day on the Quad, Utah State University’s “Week of Welcome” appears to have been a huge success. Smiling faces could be seen as they slid down a slip ‘n’ slide turned muddy, at the first ever Aggie Fest Fair, or won prices at Bingo Night.

Do many students feel welcomed by the events carefully prepared for them by the Utah State University Student Association (USUSA)? Was the transition of being away from home for the first time and having many activities to attend overwhelming for some new students?

Mackenzie Malm, a freshman, said that she thoroughly enjoyed Poetry and a Beverage (PoBev). “It was so fun to see people get up there and sing or read their poetry,” she said.

There were many types of events, ranging from physical activity to artistic liberty, letting students pick and choose which they would be most comfortable at.

Maddy Waddoups, a freshman majoring in Economics said, “I feel so pumped to go to events now that I know that will be fun.”

Not only was it fun for students during the week, but also a way to connect and build lasting relationships with others on campus.

“It was a good way to get friends and be social,” said Mady Edwards, a freshman majoring in animal, dairy and veterinary sciences.

Both Waddoups and Edwards agreed that they felt thoroughly welcome on campus, proving this year’s Week of Welcome was a great success. It seemed to not have been overwhelming at all — on the contrary, students expressed that they only wished for more time to attend activities.

“I had to race through Day on the Quad,” Waddoups said. “I didn’t get to do everything I wanted because I had classes.”

So what contributed to the great success of this year’s Week of Welcome?

Madison Maners, director of Public Relations for USUSA, believes some of the changes from this year made it especially fun.

“Tradition is a driving factor when planning events because there are some iconic USUSA-sponsored events … But this was the first time we had an activity on Monday night, which was Aggie Fest Fair, and that activity set the theme for the rest of the week.”

While tradition is a huge part of the USU campus, as well as in the city of Logan, new and fresh ideas are being brought to the table in order to help all find at least one aspect of student life on campus interesting.

“I feel like a lot of the times students are used to the same events year after year. And sometimes that is a damper on things. They already know what is going to be there and what is expected,” said Sawyer Hemsley, USUSA Programming Vice President.

“I looked for past events done at USU and other universities,” said Hemsley. “I tried to talk with students because I didn’t want them to do just what I wanted to do. I wanted to give the students what they were looking for.”

The strategy of bringing in new ideas while keeping the old was definitely reflected in the attendance.

“We’ve had the most activity at events than we’ve seen in years,” said Trevor Olsen, USUSA President.

Student leaders hope to improve in reaching everyone across campus, so that people with all interests can know what is happening. Informing about changes with so many people coming can also be difficult.

“We’re trying really hard to get students connected through social media … When there are last minute things like the ’80s dance being canceled, Twitter was our main resource,” Maners said.

Yet, there are some students who would prefer to stay at home and not be part of the sometimes extreme social scene here at USU. Are there ways to counteract this and make sure everyone is included?

“I wanted to focus on non-traditional students and traditional students … I tried to make … the events throughout the week really hitting that target audience and not just the fun, party-loving college student,” Hemsley said.

For some, the extreme social scene is not what they would describe as their idea of a good time or relaxing. There are many diverse personalities, which are part of what makes a college campus a great environment to extend oneself and be who one wants to be.

“The hard part with Day on the Quad is there is so much going on … One thing I would like to do in the future is get student organizations, educational organizations, and then the outside organizations more grouped together,” Olsen said. “It would help students to say, ‘Okay, I am going here because I am interested in this.'”

For example, the John M. Huntsman School of Business got together with Hemsley and highlighted their clubs and already have higher activity rates, according to Olsen.

So, while there may not have been the perfect activity for everyone on campus, most everyone seems to be pleased with the results, both on the coordinating end and on the attendee end.

— roniastephen@gmail.com