From popping balloons to basket tosses to inflatable obstacle courses, Student Appreciation Day had something for most students. CWU hosted Student Appreciation Day on May 25 on the Barto Lawn to show gratitude and love for the hard work that the students put in this school year. 

With the academic year coming to a close, students are working to earn good grades and make sure they pass their classes. Amber Hoefer, Director of CWU Student Leadership Involvement and Community Engagement (SLICE), stated that Student Appreciation Day was to “show love for the students” on campus.

“I think that we get stuck in our daily routines and our students are working and going to class trying to graduate and finish their assignments,” Hoefer said. “I think the goal for me is that students have a moment to remember that they’re part of something bigger and they can go hang out with their friends and enjoy an evening off.”

According to Hoefer, celebrating the students helps show how the students are moving the university forward with their hard work.

“I think that this is really an opportunity for us to share gratitude and appreciation for not only them picking CWU, but for them continuing to move our university forward and making sure that each Wildcat feels like they belong,” Hoefer said.

For this event, the theme was “Carnival” and according to Hoefer, they have done some carnival engagement to give off a different vibe than what they have done in the past.

“We really went with the carnival theme so that we could have a combination of game prizes and really just try to let the students kick back before finals,” Hoefer said.

According to Hoefer, this year’s event was different from last year’s event, and the main distinction was renting carnival games and not having different clubs and organizations do labor to host games and activities.

“One of the things that is different is that we have a variety of games that are going to be hosted by different departments on campus…so instead this year, we’re renting equipment and different games, bringing them in and then we have different departments hosting each game so that they can share their appreciation,” Hoefer said. 

Hoefer also mentioned that next week, there will be a student appreciation concert called, “Wild Fest,” and it will be featuring hip-hop artist Armani White.

According to Hoefer, this process of planning takes quite some time and they’ve been scheduling since the fall and working with their vendors since January. 

“[It] takes a long time,” Hoefer said. “I was the key coordinator for the event…my role is really trying to make sure all the pieces of the puzzle fit together so that this is a cohesive event.”

Cody Young, a senior majoring in physical education and school health, shared what he liked about the event.

“It was pretty good…got some good food and some free drinks and play[ed] some games,” Young said. “My favorite game from the event was the putt-putt, it was pretty fun honestly.”

Devonte Holden, a junior majoring in psychology, shared his thoughts on how he had a great time at the event . According to Holden, the event was “inspiring.”

“I thought it was cool to be around a whole bunch of people and mingle,” Holden said. “I thought it was very interesting that they had a lot of events and it kind of felt like a Puyallup fair vibe, where you are just around people having fun, getting food. I wouldn’t say I have a favorite game to play at this event, I just enjoyed it all.”

According to Jacob Gilsdorf, a junior marketing major, his favorite part of the event was the food and how the catering was awesome.

“The burgers are pretty good and the ribs. I like the new Coca-Cola flavor as well,” Gilsdorf said.

According to Hoefer, the event was “successful” and she had a good time seeing students have a good time as she intended.

“I’ve enjoyed seeing the students that may or may not have realized this event was happening light up and then hang out and sit on the grass, take their food and play games,” Hoefer said.

According to Hoefer, without campus wide support, none of this would happen and she said she was really grateful for support in this event.

“We can’t do large events like this without campus wide support,” Hoefer said. “I think it’s cool because some of the departments that don’t always engage with students … if you’re doing more administrative things, I think it gives them a different avenue to engage with students and they’re having a lot of fun. I’ve been really grateful for the campus wide participation and I hope we can continue to grow.”