RHA, SGA and SAB Came Together to Host on Campus Rodeo
An on-campus rodeo was held this past weekend in the Quad, sponsored by The Student Activities Board, Residence Hall Association and Student Government Association.
The event was moved from the Quad, to Anacon and later back to the Quad once it was clear the rain was going to hold out.
Megan McGowan, Assistant Director of SAB, had this event planned since summer. As assistant director of SAB, McGowan is in charge of organizing numerous events around campus.
“We wanted to give students a chance to take advantage of the weather while it was still nice out,” said McGowan.
The main attraction of the event was the large mechanical bull from Seashore Entertainments sitting in the center of the Quad.
The bull was surrounded by an inflatable ring in order to cushion the fall after a student could no longer hold on.
Sporting five different speeds the bull proved to be a challenge to many students.
Greg Cenicola, junior, said, “I rode the bull four times, but I just couldn’t seem to hold on longer than 15 seconds.”
Country music filled the Quad as students came to check out the event.
In addition to bull riding, students were able to hang out with friends while tossing around horse shoes or playing corn-hole.
Cowboy hats and bandanas were free to take and added to the country-like atmosphere.
Across from the mechanical bull students had the opportunity to have their picture taken while wearing old fashioned western style clothing.
The pictures were free of charge and were a nice piece of memorabilia to take away from the event.
Regardless of all the hard work put into the event, it seemed to have gone unnoticed by many students.
One sophomore girl at the event commented on the fact that a large portion of students seem to leave campus and go home on the weekends.
Two students playing horse shoes, Zak Jaworski and Ed Hunt, sophomores, also commented on ways to get students to attend.
“Maybe they could’ve made the bull riding into a competition,” said Jaworksi, “Whichever student holds the longest time at the end of the day wins a prize.”
Despite the emails, flyers around campus and advertisement on school event calendars, many students said they would have had no idea of the event had they not walked past the Quad and saw the event.
Kevin Mulligan, sophomore and track runner for the University, said he was also unaware of the event until he spotted it while walking out of his dorm.
“If I knew about stuff like this I would definitely attend more events,” said Mulligan.
In an attempt to keep students involved and on campus SAB is running a promotion by handing out a small blue card to students that attend events.
Each event you attend SAB will hole punch your card.
If all 15 holes are punched on your card by the end of the semester, the student will be put in the running to win a prize. The prize has not yet been determined. All that is required is attendance at 15 SAB weekend events.
PHOTO COURTESY of Lauren Buonpane
