Let’s face it, we all enjoyed the month long break from classes (except for those so completely unhinged that they took winter session classes) and we weren’t too thrilled to be back in the saddle again. Still, we do it like clockwork every semester and we hope that this semester will be smoother, more fun. In an attempt to welcome us back and make us feel at home, several sectors of the UMass Boston community engaged in festivities during our first week back. This tradition has been part of every new semester at this university and while it has had its good times and its bad, we have come to count on Welcome Week to get the semester rolling.
Let’s start with the food. Wheatley Hall piled on the charm as representatives from Student Life and the Chancellor’s office provided the bleary-eyed throngs of students with popcorn and nachos and $1.00 off food coupons for Sodexho cafeterias. While this didn’t count as particularly entertaining, it was nice to see the smiling faces of people offering information and explosive kernels to passersby. McCormack didn’t have the best chow (mostly pastries and coffee), but the smiling faces of Joyce Morgan, Director of Student Life and Jain Ruvidich -Higgins, Coordinator of Office of Service Learning and Community Outreach and several other Student Life representatives were enough to brighten my day.
Quinn Administration building offered stir-fry “something or other” over rice and seemed to draw quite a crowd although it isn’t exactly what I would call amazing cuisine. Also being served up on campus during welcome week was a jazz band by the name of “Six of One” who played a few catchy little numbers and turned Quinn into a faux-Starbucks coffeehouse atmosphere.
The Student Arts and Events Council coordinated a good time on Wednesday, offering free balloons with random coupons and gift certificates inside and an entertainer who offered the students the opportunity to “Dash for Dollars” in a phone booth filled with 500 $1 bills. Kudos to S.A.E.C. for their ingenuity and sense of style!
The thumbs up I refer to in the title of this article goes mostly to the Wit’s End and their grand opening of the Wheatley, 1st floor kiosk. The entertainment provided by Professor Duncan Nelson and the free coffee and cakes that day was truly what the spirit of Welcome Week should embody. Amusing poetry readings, public performances by student and faculty, freebies to get your day started, that’s what we want!
We want less outside entertainment, more inside. We want better deals on books and supplies at the bookstore and lines that don’t make you late for your classes while you buy your books. We want bookstore personnel who are actually interested in helping us, not overworked and non-responsive. We want our leading administrators to be visible, greeting us, shaking our hands, answering our questions. We want good, edible free food offered in more locations throughout our campus. We want information! Half the people who attend our university don’t even know we have a pool! Representatives from the Athletics department would be a welcome sight in the halls, distributing information of sports and activities. All those information booths present at orientation should make the rounds again each semester to remind us all of the opportunities available here on campus.
Essentially, we want to be listened to. And this is not much to ask for, really, but in order to be listened to, we need to speak up. Next week the perfect opportunity for having your voice heard will present itself. Chancellor Gora is having a Student Luncheon and you are invited. Can you think of anything you would have liked to have seen or heard during Welcome Week? If you can, or if you have any other issues you wish to discuss, make an appointment and be a part of this event. Remember, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”