College alters Senior Week, now “Senior Send-Off”

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Photo by Elissa Collopy

Elissa Collopy
eac001@marietta.edu

Senior Week has always been a tradition at Marietta College, and this is the first year that it is being altered to “Senior Send Off,” spanning a weekend rather than a full week.

“Senior Week was too long,” senior Taylor Myers said. “I personally participated in two senior weeks and everyone got tired by the end of the week.”

According to Myers, this led to low participation at events, high amounts of binge drinking which serves as a liability to the college, and a lot of money virtually being wasted.

This year’s Senior Send Off was planned by senior Brianna Scott and a committee of Student Government Association members in each class.

The events this year correlate with those of last year, even though the timeline has been shortened. Events include a beer garden, roller skating, a bonfire, forbidden tours, and a boat ride.

When comparing this year’s send off to last year’s senior week, the main differences include a whole day-trip to Pittsburgh for a Pirates game, bowling and wine tasting. However, every year the events for seniors have differed depending on the committee who plans them, not just this year’s schedule.

“Bri and her committee did an excellent job planning a fun and meaningful Senior Send Off,” Myers said.

Although some may view this change as positive, several seniors were not thrilled with this time adjustment.

“I think it is depriving us of what we earned and all the hard work we put in, and this will be one of the last times that the seniors will be able to see each other,” senior Katy Biehl said.

A fellow senior agreed with these sentiments.

“Why end it on us?” senior Ethan Kozel said.

Another factor in why Senior Week was eliminated was due to the faculty council voting to shorten the academic calendar and move graduation up a week.

“This helps both the budgetary situation on campus as well as allows for faculty, staff and administrators to be free on Mother’s Day,” Myers said.

Although Senior Send Off is shorter in length, the amount of events is equal to last year’s Senior Week, and traditional events such as the forbidden tours and boat ride are still on the schedule. With festivities beginning on Saturday, seniors have the opportunity to hang out with their graduating class as a whole one last time before graduating together on May 3.