Grad Banquet takes to the seas
Art Students left in the wake
April 2, 2008
Gabby Labastida
Posters announcing the annual Grad Banquet have signaled the end of the school year. For many students graduating this spring, it represents entering into a new phase of their lives.
This year, however, there have been significant changes made to the grad dinner; instead of the traditional banquet, seniors will take to the seas on the Queen of Diamonds cruise ship, which tours Vancouver.
Matt Keller, senior representative, and Tiffany Stusinski, grad banquet committee member, both said they believe the change will benefit the 2008 graduates. “My original thought was ‘we have all of Vancouver, one of the greatest cities in the world,’” said Keller, about his planning process.
In previous years, the event was held at Newlands Country Club, yet Keller felt “it was time to get into Vancouver.” An added bonus was the significant budget increase the committee received, which went up from $3,000 to $5,000 from the Trinity Western University Student Association.
The cruise will include dinner and dessert, a hired DJ and three speeches made by seniors throughout the night. While the setting will be priceless, the cost of the event has gone up to a fee of $35 per person. Yet Stusinski is not concerned that the price will deter students. “I don’t think it’ll change the number of people that come. We are offering them dinner, dessert and a cruise around Vancouver with good picture opportunities, which will end up being priceless.”
Despite the appeal of the event, many senior art students are forced to miss out due to the Senior Art show, Underground, which is debuting the same night as the cruise. Both were planned for around the same time, leaving most senior art students stranded with no options.
“It seems like poor planning on TWUSA’s part,” said Alma Visscher, senior art student and coordinator of the show. “It hurts a little bit – we put a lot of work into it.”
“It kind of represents how art is viewed at Trinity – as an afterthought,” she added, noting that the date for the art show has been set on the university calendar since the beginning of the school year.
Keller said “it was devastating” when he found out the conflict between events. “I racked my brain trying to think of a change. Eventually I figured there was nothing we could do. I still feel terrible for the art students.”
Keller recognized the oversight on his part: “We knew we had to do it sometime in April,” he said. “This was just the weekend that worked best.” With everything paid for, Keller said there is little he and the committee can do now to assuage the situation.
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