Returning the gratitude

Posted by admin on Mar 12, 2008 in News | 0 comments

At Trinity Western University, students are seen as the backbone of the school, heralded for their initiative and academic achievements. Though this is merited, credit is rarely given to those who work behind the scenes to make the university viable for students. Located everywhere from the hidden basements of Mattson Centre to the isolated buildings of Facility Services, hundreds of staff and faculty change light bulbs, test phone lines and file papers to keep TWU afloat.

When was the last time someone told them “thank you”?
This was the question fourth-year Human Services student Erin Stearns asked while working at her part-time job in the Registrar’s Office.

“People here work behind the scenes to make it possible for students to go to Trinity,” she said. “[I thought] it’d be cool to do something for them.”

She’d been mulling over ideas for a year and a half, but her time was running short to take action. “It’s my last year, so I wanted to do something,” Stearns said.

The result was Thank You Day, a secret student-wide effort to thank every staff and faculty member at TWU.

Stearns teamed up with the TWU Student Association to make the effort possible, replying to president Brian Weir’s recent offer to give $50 towards new student initiatives.

Stearns and TWUSA organized the hand signing of thank you cards, which were delivered to each individual staff member. Professors were included in the mix: “They give up a lot to work at Trinity,” Stearns said.

The actual Thank You Day took place on March 13 during chapel. Students recognized staff and faculty, who were invited especially that day to attend chapel. After, staff and faculty enjoyed a small reception of home-baked cookies and coffee donated by Sodexo.

“It’s been cool to see how people have responded,” Stearns said.