Graphic by Andy Carr and Melvin Mendez
For the second year in a row, the Senior Class Co-Chair Program hosted #LoveUIndy, where students could get involved in activities throughout the week, such as the daily Twitter Challenge, Netflix “Friends” Night, Campus Subway Art, Senior Happy Hour and Eat at Jaggers, to help raise funds for this year’s senior gift.
The #LoveUIndy Twitter Challenge involved daily challenges for students to show off their school pride and get more involved with fellow students and faculty. Some challenges included posting a selfie with your UIndy bestie, with your favorite faculty or staff member and with UIndy’s statue of Ace. It also included posting your favorite UIndy memory and a picture showing your UIndy pride. To have a chance to win the daily prize, students had to post the pictures with the hashtag, #LoveUIndy.
Another sponsored event was Netflix “Friends” Night. Along with free snacks and candy, students enjoyed some Valentine’s Day-inspired “Friends” episodes including “The One With the Candy Hearts,” “The One with Unagi,” “The One with the Birthing Video,” “The One with the Jellyfish” and “The One Where Everyone Finds Out.”
According to senior nursing major and Senior Co-Chair Emily Hiland, the goal of the event was for students to spend time relaxing and hanging out with friends. The event was hosted in the Schwitzer Engagement Center.
The Campus Subway Art event was another way for students to show off their Greyhound spirit by making free subway art signs. According to Hiland, who helped organize each event alongside Senior Co-Chair Haley Bowers, #LoveUIndy was more than just a fundraising opportunity. It was a way to get everyone more involved.
“We try to do things [events] that will get everyone together and more involved,” Hiland said. “So we have a daily photo contest [on Twitter], and the first challenge was UIndy bestie. And when we started thinking about UIndy besties, we thought it would be nice to have a chill night and watch the TV show ‘Friends.’”
According to Director of Student Activities Stephanie Barry, #LoveUIndy was originally intended for the seniors to kick-start their last few months here at UIndy, but #LoveUIndy is now more directed toward the entire student body.
“#LoveUIndy started off as a way to get seniors excited for graduation, but now it is a good opportunity to get everyone involved,” Barry said. “And everyone thinks of Valentine’s Day and significant others [this time of year], and love has so many different meanings [like] friendships, relationships and pride for the school, so it’s just a fun play off of Valentine’s Day.”
According to Barry, even though #LoveUIndy is directed toward all students, the Co-Chair Program still sponsors a senior-specific event. Senior Happy Hour was hosted specifically for future graduates to mingle with other seniors and faculty and get excited about Senior Week, which takes place the week before finals, and for graduation in May. At Senior Happy Hour, there were post cards with information about the upcoming Senior Week, to get the word out about the senior-specific events that will happen during that week.
“These events are for the seniors to enjoy their last couple [of] months before graduation,” Barry said. “It’s the time to make sure you take time out and remember why you chose to come here.”
According to Barry, the senior gift tradition is still relatively new to UIndy and has taken place for only the past two to three years. The sponsored event, Eat at Jaggers, was the main source of fundraising for the seniors, because 20 percent of the bill was donated for the senior class gift.
“With the development of Senior Week and senior co-chairs, we’ve been able to do that more [senior gifts],” Barry said. “The first senior gift was the fire pit outside of Schwitzer, and last year was the corn hole boards and the barbecue grills. And this year, they [the seniors] are starting to look at hammocks, but [we are] not sure if we will be able to get those [because] pricing dictates what we are able to get.”
