Fridays always have been popular choices for student organizations to host events. After all, what better way to start the weekend?
Third-year College student Daniel Garner is tapping into this idea with his latest brain child, called "Fridays at Five." Still in its conceptual stages, Garner's project hopes to bring different student organizations together every Friday at 5 p.m. on the Lawn to showcase their activities. The project thus has the potential to foster unity within the University community.
If successful, the event may be able to generate enough interest to serve as a launching point for the Friday series next fall.
Garner, who initiated the series after sending e-mails to almost 800 student organizations to gauge interest, said, "The reaction has been absolutely wonderful."
The idea will be test-driven today in the form of Art Day, an event that also is part of the University's Earth Week, which lasts from April 15 to April 23. More than 30 artistic student groups and individuals will perform, create, teach and promote various forms of artistic expression on the Lawn during Art Day. For example, a number of dance contracted independent organizations will perform, as well as teach lessons to create a "public-dance square." Theater organizations will improvise and perform scenes from their upcoming productions, artists will display and create different works and a number of musicians and musical groups will take the stage.
"It is an opportunity for the community to see what these groups can do," Garner said.
As part of the University Unity Project's Earth Week, Art Day is an example of how collaboration can be fused into a community's relationships, he added, noting that several of today's artists will explore sustainability within their works. Unity Project Co-Chair Garrett Trent had been talking with Garner for a few months about using the Lawn - located in the middle of Central Grounds - as a way of bringing University students together.
"We sort of realized the concepts that we were both working on were pretty similar, so I encouraged [Garner] to look at Earth Week as an opportunity to showcase those CIOs," he said.
Both Trent and Garner see a need for more networking among CIOs on Grounds. Trent added that sometimes groups are overshadowed by the multitude of events, which is why Fridays at Five is an effective way to create a shared community.
In addition to the participating CIOs, Fridays at Five has attracted the attention of Student Council. Council Scholarship Committee Chair Alexis Pennington said a series such as Fridays at Five has the advantages of consistency, adding that the community could benefit from a sense of unity, given recent budget cuts and increased difficulty with sponsoring events.
This consistency would show solidarity within the University community, she explained.
"Having something that people can depend on is always a good thing," she said.
The Lawn is already the central feature of the University, but Garner believes Fridays at Five would could make the Lawn into an art attraction.
"{Friday at Five] shows the community as active and alive and creates a centralized Academic[al] Village," Garner said.
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