100 Days and Senior Gala must be prioritized

By Rice Editorial Staff     9/11/13 7:00pm

The Thresher would like to emphasize the importance of 100 Days and Senior Gala (see story, p. 1) to the undergraduate students at Rice University, especially the current senior class. The student body values these two events as celebrations of students' time at Rice as they await graduation, and the events garner decent participation in the face of what most students recognize as general apathy toward non-college traditions. 

The Thresher understands the Office of Alumni Affairs' hesitancy toward organizing an event it has received little recognition for in the past. The Thresher also recognizes the desire to separate the monetary resources used to finance 100 Days and Senior Gala because the student populations that attend the two events do differ. 

However, the Thresher urges the administration and student groups across campus to recognize the importance of these two celebrations and to work both diligently and in conjunction with each other to ensure these events happen. While the Thresher understands questions of cost and liability are legitimate concerns, we cannot emphasize enough how important we think these events are and think any necessary steps should be taken to ensure 100 Days and Senior Gala happen.

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Further, the Thresher encourages the student body and the administration to recognize that compromises will probably have to be made when restructuring these events for the future. While 100 Days and Senior Gala may not be the same as in the past, we encourage students to be flexible. We also urge the administration to support the occurrence of these traditional events during this time of transition, even if that means providing more support for these events than in the past. Lastly, the Thresher would like to encourage students to support their own interests and apply to the Future Alumni Committee; the more student support is garnered for these events, the more likely they are to happen.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher editorial staff.  All other opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the piece's author.

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