The Involvement Fair hosted in the spring semester has been revamped as “Lyndon Day.” Hosted this Friday, students are asking “what is it” and “why?” The Critic sat down with the creators and organizers of this event to bring you its origin story.
Lyndon Day’s creation starts with the Student Government Association (SGA) President Kate Henriques, who is credited for the idea of the event. She told The Critic that during her election campaign last semester, she found that there was a big concern around school pride and a disconnect between students who enrolled in Lyndon State College and students who enrolled in Northern Vermont University – Lyndon. To combat this divide and bring campus pride back to the students, the idea of “Lyndon Day” was formed.
The event’s main purpose is to bring students together in an educational environment. Students will be celebrating Lyndon’s past as Lyndon State College, present as Northern Vermont University – Lyndon, and future. Departments, groups, and clubs with booths set up will help educate attendees on the rich history this campus has to offer. SGA Executive Vice President Ben Mitchell also told The Critic that the event is supposed to be “a morale booster for the beginning of the spring semester.”
“The school needs something like this.”
– SGA President, Kate Henriques
Henriques originally planned for this event to happen in the fall semester but ran out of time to plan it. Lyndon Day wasn’t an event to be rushed and thrown together. When aiming for the spring semester, the SGA Executive Board saw the Spring Involvement Fair as the perfect opportunity to test out this new idea. The Involvement Fair was already an established event that would bring students together, but students have always believed that it fell flat. SGA Advisor Michael Secreti has never experienced a Spring Involvement Fair in full swing, but from historical records and receipts, he can infer that it was a chaotic experience.
By combining Lyndon Day and the Spring Involvement Fair, the SGA hopes to bring in more students that would be free during that time. The event is scheduled for this Friday, January 31 and will last from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM. This is the same time frame that Spring Day will be hosted later this semester. The elongated time will also allow students who have class opportunities to stop into the event between their other responsibilities.
Mitchell has been working with the clubs to set up this event. Most of NVU-Lyndon’s clubs and organizations will have tables set up at Lyndon Day with activities and giveaways. The clubs were encouraged to bring old giveaways branded under “Lyndon State College” and teach the student body about their individual history.
However, clubs won’t be the only campus organizations featured at this event. The Executive Team, Public Safety, FAIR, Institutional Advancement/Alumni Relations, and more are expected to have booths, as well. Lyndon Day is the perfect opportunity for students to learn about everything Lyndon, whether they are interested in its history or what it currently has to offer.
When asked what she’s most excited about, Henriques quickly expressed how excited she is to see the Executive Team at the event and interacting with students. She told The Critic, “I had a meeting with President Collins and it was, like, our first big meeting where we were really hashing out all the issues that we had heard. And one of the things was, like, the students only see [President Collins] in formal ways. They only see [President Collins] at the graduations, the State of the University, on Spring Weekend, on Family & Alumni Weekend, and that’s it.” Henriques hopes that Lyndon Day will give the student body and the Executive Team much needed time together to bond in informal ways.
Students and staff attending Lyndon Day can also look forward to Kan Jam games, snow cones, popcorn, cotton candy, and hanging out with Buzz the Hornet! Most clubs are likely to have giveaways at their table, including pens, bags, buttons, and more! The SGA has even gone out of their way to design a “Lyndon Day” t-shirt for free to be distributed to all attendees.
The success of this event will determine its future. When asked whether Lyndon Day and the Spring Involvement Fair would remain jointed, none of the SGA team had a concrete answer. Henriques expressed interest in getting alumni of Lyndon involved in the future of this event. Aside from Family & Alumni Weekend in the fall, there’s not as many opportunities for them to come back and celebrate their alma mater. “It’d be cool to see—especially to give them an opportunity to come back in, like, the winter. Because when you think of Lyndon, you don’t think about the spring, you don’t think about the fall. You think about the winter,” she told The Critic.
Lyndon Day is being hosted in the Stannard Gymnasium this Friday, January 31, from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM. The Critic will have a table set up showing off old printed issues, including the first edition of The Critic printed in 1965!