By Daniel Surman

For most students at Mac the year will end after the last finals on May 7. As Senior Week approaches, the class of 2012 is the exception to this rule. Senior Week is a three-day series of events beginning May 7 that is organized for graduating members of the class of 2012. Among the organized events are a trip to Elsie’s Bar in Minneapolis, an opportunity to volunteer with senior citizens in the Mac-Groveland community and a night of food, fun and dancing at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

The most anticipated highlight of the week is the “Last Chance Kagin Dance.” “I think it’s a good wrap-up for your time here,” said Olivia Nichols ’13, co-chair of the Senior Week Committee. “There’s a lot of re-coming back together and figuring out who you were then as opposed to who you are now… You remember your first Kagin dance during orientation? This is a way to come back, so everything [goes] full-circle.” “Oh, I love Kagin!” added Sam DelSerra ’12, the other co-chair of the Senior Week Committee. “I’ve definitely had some crazy times at Kagin dances. I think it’ll just be really fun.” “There are glowsticks,” she noted. Monday night features the last lecture for seniors. This year Deb Smith, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology who, like seniors, will be concluding her time at Mac this May, will deliver the remarks. “When I heard the news I was profoundly honored, but also profoundly humbled,” Smith said in an email. “I’ve seen more wisdom in all of you [students] than the oceans have fish. And the older I get, the longer I teach, the more humbled I become about the limits that surround what I know.” “It is incredibly meaningful to me to receive this honor,” she said. “I want to live up to it, and I am searching myself for wisdoms or truths with value enough to share.” Some controversy emerged over the decision to remove the annual riverboat cruise. “We got a lot of criticism for that,” DelSerra said. “Hearing feedback from past senior classes, it’s not fun [and] it eats up about half the budget. “ “Everyone thinks, ‘Oh it’s going to be so fun being on a boat!’ But they don’t realize that you’re going to be stuck on the boat for three hours and you’re only there for an hour of light, so then you’re just floating on a boat in the dark,” she said. Still, organizers feel confident the events they have put together will appeal to the class of 2012. “I think this year’s committee focused more on including everyone in the senior class,” Nichols said. “There are events across the board for every kind of person, [for both] people who want to party and have a good time but also people who just want to reflect on their experience.” “I think we have something for everyone, and I think that at each of the events that we’ve carefully planned, there’s one thing or multiple things that will draw everyone in,” DelSerra added. Despite the three days of planned events, Senior Week is intended to be flexible for everyone involved. “It’s not a full three days–we left time for people to do what they want and hang out with who they want and not necessarily go to [all of] these events,” DelSerra said. “You can take care of things that you want to take care of, but you can also go to these events for the low cost of $20 and have a really good time doing something with people that you care about and might not see for a really long time.”
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