Welcome Weekend was highlighted by the Glo-Hard Paint & Foam Party, which took place Saturday, Aug. 26, at the extended parking lot by the Art Studio and Living Center South. Over 700 students attended the party.
Last year, Alpha Kappa Lambda President Gabe Kasper, a third-year marketing student, envisioned his fraternity putting on a small scale Glo-Hard Party and began brainstorming ideas to make the event a reality. Less than a year later, he is largely responsible for the capstone Welcome Weekend event on campus. AKL partnered with several different organizations and offices to put on the party, including Program Board, Student Association, Student Wellness Programs, Valley Nights and the Student Life office.
“We saw different Glo-Parties happening across the country and thought it would be a really fun thing to bring to campus,” Kasper said.
The party, which replaced Thee House Party as a Welcome Weekend staple, featured electronic dance music (EDM), with foam and paint being sprayed throughout the event’s location. Program Board had been trying to revamp Thee House Party, and hosting the Glo-Party seemed to be a smooth transition to do so.
“The Glo-Party was an absolute blast,” freshman Dylan McDonald said. “It was the first one I’ve been to, and it was one of the most enjoyable nights I’ve ever had.”
Several of the organizations involved supported the event financially and through promotion. Kasper, who works as a Valley Vanguard staff writer, said it took over $4,000 in funding to put on the party.
“Bringing the campus together to promote this event was a great thing to happen anyway, but the fact that we worked together to get the funds together was really cool to see as well,” he said.
Glo-Hard Paint & Foam Party also featured an education piece, which Peer Health Education (PHE) took responsibility for. The premise of the education was alcohol safety. Because the event was heavily marketed to freshmen, PHE focused especially on education about underage drinking.
“We always like to include events like this during Welcome Weekend because we believe it’s very important to provide freshmen with education,” said Student Wellness Programs Summer Intern Jack Duly. “They quite often don’t know much about alcohol education prior to coming to college.”
Duly stressed that while SVSU does not endorse underage drinking, there will always be students who choose to drink alcohol underage and that PHE tries to educate them on how to do so safely.
“Even though we do not endorse drinking under the age of 21, we do know that some freshmen do drink,” he said. “We always like to make sure that we are giving freshmen the tools that they need to succeed here.”
Attendees of the Glo-Party were each given a t-shirt with the party’s emblem on the front, and on the back, the shirt featured PHE’s “Top 10 Party Smart Tips.”
Following the strong turnout, talks have begun regarding the Glo-Party becoming an annual Welcome Weekend event.
