HASS brings dance party and poetry night
In hopes of bringing about new traditions and drawing its members together, the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) has been planning a number of events for their annual week.
“We really want to start a tradition of making a successful week where students in the college of HASS can take that week to celebrate their college and the education they’re receiving,” said HASS senator Katie Brammer.
The week will begin Monday, March 28, at 12 p.m. as representatives from each of USU’s colleges will gather in the TSC’s International Lounge to compete in the Quiz Bowl for the title of the ‘Smartest College,’ Brammer said. Each college will be asked Jeopardy-style questions from a pool of subjects. The winners will earn the title and right of being the ‘Smartest College’ on campus. Free Scotsman Dogs will also be served at the event.
Brammer said, “It hasn’t been happening since the ’70s so we’re bringing it back and we’re hoping it’s a tradition that we will build.”
On Tuesday, students will have the chance to break away from the norm by going to the Nifty Fifty Dance Party. The dance will be held in the TSC Ballroom and will begin at 8 p.m. and last precisely 50 minutes, Brammer said.
Along with dancing, many clubs affiliated with HASS will be in attendance and will allow students the opportunity to involve themselves in these organizations.
On Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the college will hold the first-ever International Picnic, where students can donate $1 and get sandwiches and a chance to mingle with many of the different cultures that are represented at USU. This will give students the chance to meet new people and open their eyes to other cultures, Brammer said.
“One thing we feel that USU has a lot of is diversity, and we wanted to celebrate that diversity,” she said.
Kristen Munson, the college’s public relations specialist, said the Alumni Night Open House, Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m., will be a rare event for students to attend and they should take advantage of it. It will give students an opportunity to network on a casual level with some of the highly successful alumni that have come from the College of HASS, Munson said. These alumni are volunteering their time to help at the event. They have come from many fields and will include bank presidents, senior attorneys and motivational speakers, and have been extremely successful in their chosen fields, said John Allen, dean of HASS.
“This will give the students an opportunity to informally say ‘What would you take? How did you get there? If you were to do it again, what would you do differently?'” Allen said.
Afterward, the college will hold a concert featuring Imagine Dragon, a top-20 contestant in the Rolling Stones Competition. The concert will go from 8-10 p.m. and admission will be a can of food, which will be donated to the Student Nutrition Access Center.
“Our Friday event is Beat Poetry Night,” Brammer said. “We’re teaming up with a Beat Poetry team that does it every year, it’s the fifth annual poetry night … it’s a good event every year.”
Admission will be $7 in advance or $10 at the door of the TSC International Lounge on April 1 at 6:30 p.m.
For the final events of the week, students can attend the Mesoamerican Anthropology Museum which is located in Old Main and will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 2. The same day, there will be an International Banquet from 7-9 p.m. where international students will prepare food from all around the world, Brammer said. Tickets will be $10 and can be purchased in the USU Card Office on the second floor of the TSC.
Along with many other organizational changes that are currently occurring in the college, HASS is also in the process of revising its name. At every event, the college will provide sticky notes at a table and will be looking for input on what the new name should be.
“We will take the top five winners’ suggestions to the branding committee and the student with the name that the council feels best represents the college will get a prize,” Brammer said.
“Where the college has reformed this last year … the arts have split off and it’s getting smaller,” Brammer said, “we want to create that college identity that didn’t exist before and rally behind the college of HASS.”
– kevin.mitchell@aggiemail.usu.edu