It’s Saturday night in the Bryan Quad, and students are going crazy. Girls in bikini tops and shirtless boys dance in a three-foot-deep pool of bubbles. A D.J. is spinning Usher’s “Yeah,” while in the darker corners, couples grind their hips together.
“That was awesome,” first-year Dan Katzman yells as he steps out of the foamy pool. “This party is nuts.”
He has the Student Union to thank; this student-run organization planned last weekend’s foam party. Student Union also hosted Friday’s open-mic in the Underground and set up a slip ‘n’ slide on Milner Lawn that same afternoon. All three events were a part of the “Hot, Wet Guilford Weekends” theme Student Union has planned for the fall.
But the organization does more than just plan events for the Guilford community. Student Union is the “center of college community life,” the mission statement reads. “The Student Union serves as a unifying force in the life of the college, cultivating enduring regard for and loyalty to the college.”
Senior Jared Knight, the group’s treasurer, expands further on the statement: “We’re the group that facilitates fun on campus.”
Students certainly appeared to be having fun at last weekend’s events, and it was a smooth process. By midnight, the foam party started to wind down. The DJ announced the last song of the night and students left the pool of foam to rinse themselves off with hoses. Couples walked out of Bryan hand-in-hand. The company contracted by the school took down its equipment, and by 1 a.m. that morning, no one could tell that a great party had just taken place.
While the foam party attracted the greatest number of students, the weekend’s other events brought students out of their dorms. The open-mic featured students performing their own songs and poetry. Attendance was an impressive 75 people, the maximum occupancy for the Underground. The slip ‘n’ slide was another fun event, despite the rainy weather – after Ultimate Frisbee Practice, the entire team came out to get wet.
Because of new social gathering rules prohibiting any student-hosted partying on campus, keeping campus life exciting is a big responsibility. So far this year, Student Union has shown the movie Wet, Hot American Summer, sponsored a tournament for the video game Madden football, and bused students into downtown Greensboro.
Adrienne Craig, who is serving her first year as coordinator of student involvement and leadership, stressed the need for events to appeal to all types of students. “We are planning diverse events to serve the whole community,” she said. “Every weekend there are events happening.”
Next weekend is the Hall Crawl in which Student Union will serve non-alcoholic cocktails. The following weekend is Homecoming and Student Union is sponsoring events related to the big day, including a pep rally and bonfire by the lake on Saturday.
Student Union is pleased with the outcome of last weekend’s events and feels confident about future plans. “It was a great success,” said President Sarah Green.