As the new year begins, so does Cabrini students’ spring semester. And there is no better way to start off the new term than with fun-filled events hosted by student leaders, organizations, and clubs.
Welcome Weekend happened from Friday, Jan. 20 to Sunday, Jan. 22, and was planned out over winter break by the Student Government Association with the help of the Center for Student Engagement and Leadership office, andthe Spectrum and Jewish Student Union clubs.
Emily Wainwright, a senior double major in criminology and psychology, and the president of SGA, explained the reason behind this special celebration, “Welcome Weekend is becoming like a tradition. It happened last year and it’s basically a way to kick off the spring semester with different events coming from different areas on campus.”
As a part of the planning, SGA had some goals to accomplish. Abigail Flanagan, a junior health science major and a member of SGA, said, “Our goal mainly was to keep students here on campus here during that first week we were back. We wanted to increase student involvement and plan a variety of events that they would go to.”
Joshua Dearden, freshman double major in criminology and political science, expressed his feelings, “What brought me to come to Welcome Weekend was sometimes it can just be dull on campus. People are looking for something to do and I gravitated towards this and thought it was fun.”
Welcome Weekend fun
The first Welcome Weekend event started on Friday at Grace Hall Atrium with SEaL hosting a “Winter Wonderland.” There was an indoor ice-skating rink, custom photo snow globes, DIY pillows, winter crafts, a candy buffet, hot chocolate bar, and raffles for everyone who attended.
Bridget O’Donnell, the director for SEaL, recalled the fun and successful night, “There was just a lot of good energy and people were getting pictures with their friends. It was a good way for students to come together after break, see their friends again and have some fun.”
The main attraction of Winter Wonderland was an indoor ice skating rink. For some, it was their first time experiencing an event like this. Dearden said, “I went to Winter Wonderland yesterday and it was great. It was my first time ever putting on ice skates. I could not stress how much fun it was.”
Saturday brought more events, as Spectrum hosted a group activity called, “Grow into the New Year.” It was a calm afternoon for students and their friends to enjoy and start the new year off! Kendall Trumbore, a junior double major in graphic design and design management, and the president of Spectrum, said “We are just doing some journaling, vision boards, and some coloring, for both a creative outlet but also establishing goals for the semester.”
She continued, “The goal of this event is to really bring students into the spring semester with a bit more excitement and energy. It’s a little hard sometimes to get out of winter break and really get back into the flow of things. Dearden also attended “Grow into the New Year” and said, “This is basically a club event for Spectrum and this is just our way to get together, show our pride and basically bring out the creative side.”
Later that evening, SGA hosted a game night at the Mansion Dining Room, where they had board games, escape room games, a Twister tournament, card games, and lots of snacks. As one of the hosts of the night, Wainwright agreed, “SGA game night was very successful and we had a good turn out.”
On the last day of Welcome Weekend, the Jewish Student Union invited students at The Grill to enjoy snacks and games of Cards against Humanity. Then to end the event, the Campus Activities and Programming, hosted a movie night at the Widener Lecture Hall screening “Black Panther Wakanda Forever.”
