By Heather Fabritze
Student Life Editor
The Student Events Board kicked off the semester by welcoming freshmen and returning students with their series of Welcome Week events.
Welcome Week spanned from Monday, Aug. 29 to Saturday, Sept. 3. Each day featured a different event hosted by Washington College’s SEB. Events held during Welcome Week are run with the intention of introducing attendees to one another and bringing together groups.
On Monday, SEB collaborated with the Black Student Union to host a Dunkin’ truck on the Cater Walk. From 9 a.m. to noon, students received a free caffeinated drink from the truck and a $5 Dunkin’ gift card. A yoga and meditation session was held in the Egg from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, students picked up free Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches and nuggets between 12:30 and 2 p.m. in Martha Washington Square. Professional hypnotist Chris Jones visited the Alonzo G. and Virginia Gent Decker Theatre at 8 p.m. on Thursday, and there were lawn games available from 5 to 7 p.m. on the Campus Green on Friday.
Welcome Week finished at 8 p.m. on Saturday, with a bonfire hosted at the Fraternity Quad Firepit.
According to SEB Director of Series Events sophomore Brynn Castellani, Welcome Week purposefully follows orientation week so that students can have “a bit of fun” following orientation’s intense schedule. For returning students, it allows for reunions with peers.
Castellani, along with SEB Director of Marketing sophomore Emily Iampieri, looks forward to having more flexibility with event planning and guidelines, which leads to larger turnout in attendees.
“Last year we still had to work around COVID-19 restrictions and I think this hurt our turnout a little bit,” Iampieri said. “At our last bingo last spring we had record turnout and I’m really hoping that we see that kind of turnout at our other events this year. If the turnout during orientation and Welcome Week events tells us anything, it’s that this is going to be a busy year.”
According to Iampieri, coordination was difficult in terms of planning the Welcome Week events. All of SEB’s executive members are also involved in other organizations, so finding time to plan between their tumultuous schedules was a challenge.
However, the SEB executive board persevered, and Castellani is proud of the effort that their team already put in.
“I feel like the amount of effort being put into events really shows,” Castellani said. “I want to make sure that I’m able to set enough time aside to put in effort to everything.”
Sophomore Emma Parker-Watt attended multiple of the Welcome Week events.
After seeing the amount of dedication given to each event, Emma Parker-Watt is grateful that SEB is continuing their reputation of being one of the organizations that “brings students together on campus.”
“I’m really thankful that SEB has the resources to put together these events, so students can go out of their comfort zones and really take on college life,” Parker-Watt said.
SEB plans to continue helping students mingle and get connected on campus with events throughout September. On Sept. 6 and 17 they will be hosting movie nights and on Sept. 9 students will be able to participate in trivia. Crafts will be available to students on Sept. 14. On Sept. 21 there will be a laser tag game and on Sept. 27 there will be multiple rounds of bubble soccer.
Although their schedule for September is complete, the SEB executive board encourages students to share ideas with them.
“We are very receptive to constructive feedback,” Castellani said. “If at any point you want to make a recommendation or something, let us know. You could [direct message] us on Instagram…tell us if you have event ideas. Even if you’re not in SEB, any feedback is great.”
Photo courtesy of Stephen Hook
Photo Caption: SEB Executive Members sophomores Brynn Castellani and Emily Iampieri and junior Francesca Jacobs enjoy SEB’s free Chick-fil-A meals.