Student Alumni Association hosts Senior Send-Off
NOTE: This article was incorrectly credited to Kellie Donnelly in the print version.
The Senior Class of 2011 received a goodbye from the Student Alumni Association in the form of snow cones, free food, carnival inflatables and cap and gown sales at the Fourth Annual Senior Send-Off.
According to Myla Edmond, assistant director of Alumni Relations, Senior Send-Off is a tradition the Student Alumni Association started in 2008.
“The Student Alumni Association wanted to come up with a way to have a common experience for our senior class,” Edmond said. “They decided to come up with something a little more fun and not competing with all the awards programs that happen at the end of the year.”
Senior Katie Gainey enjoys the Euro Bungee during the Senior Send-Off festivities, hosted by the Student Alumni Association. The annual event featured inflatables. refreshments and cap and gown sales. Photo by Kenny Norman.
The SAA formerly had a program called Senior Salute, which was designed similarly to an honors banquet. According to Brian Doty, president of the SAA, they decided they wanted to do something more fun and unique while starting a new UIndy tradition. They ultimately decided to come up with an event that mirrored a carnival. Although Senior Send-Off was initially just for seniors, the SAA decided to open the event to underclassmen in 2010. Edmond wanted the rest of the student body to get involved.
“This could be something that, as an underclassman, you could look forward to when it became your turn to be a senior,” Edmond said.
The event gives seniors last-minute job advice from Lela Mixon, associate director of Career Services. There is also free food for seniors and snacks for the underclassmen. Senior Send-Off is also the first day that caps and gowns are available to seniors for $59, which started last year.
Senior Lyndsay Callahan found the last-minute job advice useful.
“It’s a neat way to get people to come out and talk about what they can do after graduation,” she said. “The real world can be kind of scary.”
Doty helped organize every aspect of the event, from putting people and food in place to organizing activities and inflatable basketball hoops and bubbles.
As the advisor for SAA, Edmond works with the vendors to make sure they know the time and place and to make sure the SAA is within its budget. Edmond is the primary contact between the students and outside companies.
“The thing the Student Alumni Association is cognizant of is that there’s not a lot of tradition on campus,” Edmond said. “So that’s where [Senior Send-Off] came from.”
Doty and the rest of the SAA wanted to make Senior Send-Off a well-known campus event, similar to their “Dessert Diversion” in the fall.
Edmond said that Senior Send-Off is easy to prepare for because she sees how the previous year’s event went and notes what worked and what didn’t before making modifications. However, she noted that the biggest challenge for the event is advertising and marketing.
Discussion for this year’s Senior Send-Off began in January, when the SAA went to conference with other SAAs. Senior Send-Off has been a discussion topic since then.
“The thought’s been thrown out there from other schools. I think overall, it’s been successful,” said Doty. “Last year, we opened it up to the entire university, as opposed to just seniors. I think that makes a huge difference.”
According to Doty, advertising remains the biggest challenge. Word spreads through staff, the UIndy website event calendar and the SAA’s Facebook page.
“It’s a new UIndy tradition that is not to be missed,” said Edmond.
