As the countdown to graduation continues, the Student Alumni Association (SAA) brings together the senior class by hosting an event called the Senior Series. This includes a series of social gatherings attended mostly by seniors, although some juniors participate as well.
The Senior Series is typically held at local venues, like Charley’s Waterfront Cafe, Bar 202, or Macado’s, but is starting off with its first event of the year at El Patron on High Street.
“In the past events that the SAA has had, El Patron seemed to have the best turn out,” said Casey Doerfler, senior and intern for Alumni Relations, explained. “Everybody likes El Patron, and it is a big social thing. When looking for places to have the first series events, anywhere locally known that is within walking distance of our campus is always a good option.”
Doerfler, as an intern for Alumni Relations, worked with her supervisor to plan and organize the first night of the Senior Series.
The first step of the process was selecting El Patron as a venue, and then after contact was made and the location was secure, she went on to create flyers to gain publicity. These flyers have been approved by the Lankford Student Union for posting and are now visible in locations like the Student Union and Dorrill Dining Hall.
“The more people that you tell and talk to, the more people that will go,” Doerfler said. “Sometimes we put up flyers and put it up on Facebook, but it is really word of mouth that works best. Most of our members of the SAA will go, unless they have a prior mandatory obligation someplace else. These members bring their friends who will then bring their friends, and that is how we can get a good turn out.”
Even though Doerfler works closely with her supervisor, her main responsibilities include planning the events and delegating work among the members of the SAA. These tasks include deciding what jobs the members will carry out at the event.
“We have meetings once a month and then other than that, we communicate through email,” she said of the event planning process. “I will send out an email to the group with dates and times that we will need people to help out, and I’ll just ask for whoever can work with that. We don’t require that someone take up a certain responsibility. Most people who are in the SAA will volunteer and are very eager to help out whenever they can.”
Each senior who attends will receive a free drink ticket which can be redeemed for one drink, draft beer, or soda.
Along with the drink ticket, seniors can visit a table set up by the SAA to try out free appetizers from El Patron. In addition to food and drinks, students are eligible to win door prizes and possibly participate in a raffle.
“With SAA, normally when we have something like this event, we do have free giveaways, raffles, and stuff like that,” Doerfler said. “We have all kinds of prizes, and those usually include the Tervis tumblers with the Longwood logo on it, or the Longwood Alumni license plate covers. It’s usually all Longwood centered, like pens and lanyards. Just all some sort of Longwood memorabilia.”
Following the opening night of the Senior Series at El Patron on October 23rd, from 6:00-8:00 pm, there will be numerous events held throughout the year. The other events of the Senior Series are going to be structured similarly to the first night and are social gatherings for seniors and their friends to celebrate their last year at Longwood and getting closer to graduation.
