Grad Blast will end this year’s Senior Week as one big event with prizes, free Chipotle and the biggest change of all – free alcohol.
“Board games in the Union and movie nights at the Granada just weren’t attracting students anymore,” said Ally Spease, Senior Week co-chair, junior marketing major and a former designer for The Bulletin.
The event will be held at the newly renovated Brickyard 20 Ale House, 402 Merchant St. Brickyard is also one of the event’s biggest sponsors.
“Though some people might find it shocking that we are providing alcohol to our seniors, the reason behind this was not to increase attendance but to start treating our seniors like the grown adult alumni that they will be in a few weeks after the event,” Spease said. “I believe that if we treat them like the adults that they are, they will feel more welcome to come back and partake in Alumni Association events after graduation.”
A tab assigned to the Senior Week budget will allow students to receive up to two complimentary beers at the bar, but after their maximum limit is hit on the tab, students will have to purchase any additional alcoholic beverages on their own.
The first 150 students to register are also guaranteed free Chipotle and a free T-shirt.
“I do think most people will go to this event because of the Chipotle, which was a great idea,” said Shelby Perez, senior communication major. “That is something that most students do not have access to every day here at ESU.”
170 students had already registered as of yesterday.
“In the past, we have also been known to spend most of our budget on prizes to give away throughout the week,” Spease said. “This year, we decided to give something to everybody, something that everyone will be able to take home with them – a final celebration with their classmates before graduation.”
Prizes seniors can win at Grad Blast include gift certificates to local and franchised businesses, free oil changes, four-day passes to Country Stampede, a 50-inch flat screen TV and free graduate classes.
Spencer Bauman, senior business marketing major, said the prizes were “nice incentives” to sign up for the event. He said he expects it to be a large turnout.
“I want to enjoy my last year being a college student and might as well have fun with my class while I can before we all start our own careers,” Bauman said.
Senior Week will still be a week long, said Nikki Metz, alumni programs coordinator for Alumni Relations, but the biggest change is having one big event for seniors at the end.
“We are just placing our efforts on one larger campus event instead of several smaller events,” Metz said.
From April 20-21, Career Services will have a table set up in the Memorial Union Main Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a LinkedIn photo booth, résumé reviews and free cookies. On April 23 from 3-4 p.m., the ESU Graduate School will host a “Graduate School Boot Camp” in the Greek Room of the Memorial Union.
The budget for Senior Week is $3,000 – with the majority of funds coming from generous sponsors, Spease said. This year, Senior Week is sponsored by the ESU Ambassadors, ESU Alumni Association, Liberty Mutual, Emporia State Federal Credit Union and ESU Career Services.
“Everything involving Senior Week this year was designed to cater to the class of 2015,” Spease said.
Seniors can register online by visiting hornetnation.emporia.edu/senior2015 or by calling (620) 341-647. The event is for seniors only. No guests will be admitted.
