Written by Zack Silvas. Media by Whitney Nichols.
With the school year coming to a close, there are many campus events happening from Midnight Breakfast to recitals. With all these events going on, I decided to choose one that would end a three year run of my stay in Joy Hall. On May, 4th, Joy and Janssen Hall will be holding a Soiree which will be an end of the year celebration for both halls. There will be dancing, food, and reminiscing about favorite moments that each person has had in their respective halls. I wanted to ask Mikey Ward, CRE of both Joy and Janssen, to give me some insight on what this event is like and the future to many other events for Joy and Janssen.
When asking Ward what led to having the Soiree, he said that it was started by Greg Williams who was the CRE back in 2012. The purpose of the Soiree was to have a more traditional way of celebrating the end of the year. “This Soiree started under a guy named Greg Williams who was the CRE of Janssen Hall as early as I think 2012. Williams was there through 2014 and he wanted a fancier opportunity to just kind of celebrate the year, while sitting down and reflecting on all the good that has happened. It was a fancy sit down dinner to say the least. This year is a little bit different with Joy and Janssen being together.”
This event is held not just for residents of Joy and Janssen Hall, friends of the residents are also invited. Ward had also said that this event does differ from events that we have on campus. “I want to celebrate the guys who live in Joy and Janssen and give them an opportunity to celebrate. It’s also an opportunity to kind of round out the year. It’s right before Midnight Breakfast. So I understand the inconvenience there, but that’s kind of the, what’s happening, you know? At the end of the school year, everyone’s trying to fit in an event. It’s in many ways an opportunity for the freshmen and sophomores who make up the majority of Joy and Janssen to have something similar to a junior-senior event. We have our very own, Noah Schlosser, DJ-ing the event. We’re catering the event and it’s on campus, so it’s going to be a close proximity, along with having a good time with each other and the community one last time.”
Depending on how the turnout is for this years event, I asked Ward if he can see doing
another event like this for years to come and he said that this event is trying to “create a bridge to next year” in Joy and Janssen. “I think the main thing that it was, it was trying to bridge the gap from one year to the next. We’ll celebrate the RC staff and thank them for their service, but also usher in a new group who’s just been hired and it’s kind of a passing the baton. So I hope to do it. This is our first attempt. This is our first adaptation of how well enough that people are excited about it in its years to come.” But the thing that Ward wants the residents of both Joy and Janssen Hall to get out of this is that celebrating within the community with one another is special. “I think it’s another opportunity to celebrate the community that has organically or inorganically been happening on their floors and their halls. I think back to the dart gun wars that happened throughout the first semester and now the Nerf basketball games that are happening. We’re going to have somewhat of our own space to write down our favorite memories in the halls. It’s such a good opportunity to dance together, to celebrate, [and] to eat good food.”
With all events happening around the campus, make sure you make room for the Joy and Janssen Soiree and do not miss any reminiscing of this past year.
