To celebrate the centennial of Webster University, five Webster student groups planned a birthday party in the University Center and the quad on April 9. All were invited to celebrate the university’s milestone with food, games, music, and a dunk tank.
The five student groups included Residential Housing Association (RHA), Student Government Association (SGA), Commuter Council, International Student Association, and African American Association of Collegians, hosted the party. President of Commuter Council Caroline Wiley said the groups, which she referred to as “The Big Five,” had a few meetings to discuss and plan what the event would be like.
“We had Fall Fest last semester, and it was really successful. So we decided we wanted to have the Big Five put on an event every semester. Because this year is Webster’s centennial, we decided we wanted to have a birthday party,” Wiley said.
Everything was free at the event except for the dunk tank, which gave students three throws for a dollar. The proceeds of the dunk tank were given to Project Gorlok, an initiative to construct a 3-foot bronze statue of the Webster mascot, the Gorlok, in the middle of the quad.
President of RHA Ethan Stohs said while the student groups did not set a fundraising goal for the day, the party did manage to raise a lot of donations.
“I think the dunk tank was a really big hit,” Stohs said.
All the food – which included chicken, chips, rice, chili, cake, and cupcakes – came from local businesses in Webster Groves. Students were able to pay $1 for the dunk tank with either cash or credit card, but the total money raised has not yet been figured. The time of the event was chosen to optimize the amount of students that were able to attend, according to Wiley.
“We decided to host the party from 3-6 p.m. because we wanted as many students to be able to come as possible. We wanted to have it in between day classes and night classes,” Wiley said. “We’ve already had a good turn out.”
Share this post
