SAB
Club & Greek

AOII and SAB Take a Look at What’s Under the Sea

The Student Activities Board (SAB) hosted “What’s Under the Sea” at Shadow Lawn on Tuesday, Sept. 22 for Monmouth University students to come and enjoy. The event aimed to engage students by bringing awareness to all the pollution in the ocean as well as what kind of creatures are hidden within the sea. 

SAB co-sponsored the event with the sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi. The sisters were paired up with a member of SAB, who they helped run the different novelties and attractions. 

“The event went really well. I think it’s so important for everyone to know about our oceans,” said Alex Stucy, a senior marine biology major and President of AOII. “SAB was great to work with, too! They were organized and we’re so excited to be able to help them. I also think is very important to work with different organizations on campus,” Stucy continued. 

The first and most popular part of the event was touch tank, where students could touch many different sea animals. Within the tanks were two stingrays, a baby shark, starfish, different types of shells, and many more aquatic animals. Students were timid to touch the stingrays, which are known as dangerous animals, however, everyone was reassured that their tails were clipped and free of harm.

According to Megan McGowan, the Associate Director of Student Activities and Student Center Operations, this event “was a fun way to get some important information out to the students and a creative way to start the important conversation of marine conservation.”

A mechanical bull shark was also present at the event for students to ride. This brought many laughs to the students as people attempted to ride the bull shark and eventually fell off. Riding the bull shark became a competition for some to see who was able to stay on the longest. 

 “The mechanical bull shark was easily the funniest thing to watch because you have students who happen to fall off in five seconds because they are not good at it, and then you have the experts who can hold on for over a minute while struggling. This was an awesome thing to bring on campus,” said junior communication major, Tommy Foye. 

There was also an inflatable fishbowl that people could physically go inside of and take a picture. Once the picture was taken, students were given the picture in a frame so they would be able to remember the memories they made while at the event.

Next to the inflatable fishbowl was a sand art station. Students were able to fill up plastic seashells, flowers, aliens, and a few other shapes with an assortment of colored sand, making a design of their liking. 

James Ruffino, a junior marketing major, is the Awareness Chair for SAB. Ruffino planned and executed the event alongside SAB and AOII. “The event went really well. Everyone seemed to love the attractions and had a whole lot of fun, but they also learned why the health of our oceans is extremely important.”

PHOTO COURTESY of Mel Lewisu