Following a year of holding online events, UMass Boston’s Student Arts and Events Council is now holding its Welcome Week events in-person and on campus. The carnival-themed events began on Tuesday, Sept. 7, and will end on Wednesday, Sept. 22.
Though Welcome Week has nearly reached its conclusion, SAEC Student Coordinators Allison Gaudreau and Hayley Bartlett emphasized that some major events are still scheduled for the week of Sept. 20.
Gaudreau spoke to the “Monday Munchies” event, which will occur at 1 p.m. at a location which will be announced on the SAEC Instagram account (@umbsaec).
“We have food trucks coming on the Beacon Walk and any student can get food,” explained Gaudreau. “Monday Munchies” also occurred on Monday, Sept. 13.
Following “Monday Munchies,” the Student Activities Involvement Fair will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 21 in the Campus Center Terrace from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Bartlett highlighted the Chancellor’s Barbecue—which will close out Welcome Week on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at noon—as one of Welcome Week’s largest events. The event will feature food, novelties and music, and will take place on the Campus Center Front Lawn.
“It’s a chance for the Chancellor to give another welcome,” said Bartlett.
Both Bartlett and Gaudreau expressed excitement at being able to hold an in-person Welcome Week for the Fall 2021 semester.
“Last year we had to do it all online, which was really sad because everybody gets so excited for all of our events, including us who work so hard on them,” said Gaudreau. “Last year [ . . .] we still got a lot of participants and we still tried really hard, but it’s so much better to see people actually enjoying your events.”
“I’m a senior this year, so my freshman year we were able to do stuff in person, and it made a big difference to be able to see students making connections and having a space to make friends and to invite new friends places to actually go, instead of having to be online,” said Bartlett. “So, as much as we were happy to do what we could to adapt last year and keep everybody safe and healthy, we’ve been really excited to bring that aspect of in-person meeting back.”
Bartlett and Gaudreau also commented on the events that occurred during the first two weeks of Welcome Week.
“Our big events right now are the Connections Carnivals which have been going really well,” said Gaudreau. “[They occurred] during the middle of the school day outside on the front lawn, where we have lots of games, and we have food, and everybody comes out and gets some free novelties. Everybody seems to be loving that.”
SAEC also held one of UMass Boston’s traditional Welcome Week events, “Lawn on B,” on Friday, Sept. 17.
“If anybody’s been to the swings at Lawn on D it’s pretty similar to that,” explained Bartlett. “We bring a lot of different glow-in-the-dark activities; in the past we’ve had swings, seesaws, glow-in-the-dark games [. . .] It’s like a fun little activity after getting through your second week of school.”
SAEC also held two movie nights, one in which they showed “Shrek” and the other in which they showed “In the Heights”.
When asked if the ongoing campus construction had affected Welcome Week, Gaudreau stated that it has had little effect. Although SAEC can no longer hold events in the plaza, they have adapted by holding events on the front lawn and in Campus Center.
Bartlett and Gaudreau urged students to follow SAEC on Instagram (@umbsaec) in order to see which SAEC events are coming up.
In order to join SAEC, visit UMBeInvolved, or email [email protected].