Students walking by the Residential Quad on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 6 would have seen quite a spectacle as they passed by. They might have caught the WCU mascot, Rammy, leading students in “The Cupid Shuffle,” or, if they were lucky, perhaps saw some students beating frozen T-shirts against the ground.
The Purple and Gold Club hosted a Welcome Social that was widely promoted on campus, complete with notifications stuck in student mailboxes as well as a significant number of fliers around campus. According to President of the Purple and Gold Club Andrew Wagner, this event was meant to raise awareness for the club.
“We want people to be involved on campus and enjoy their time at West Chester,” said Wagner, “and we had people signed up who were anxious to receive e-mails about future events. It was cool to see how we are gaining a great group of students in such a short period of time.”
The Purple and Gold Club is a student-led organization that promotes West Chester pride, support of fellow students, and campus involvement; the Club is sponsored by WCU Alumni and the West Chester University Foundation.
The Welcome Social was well-attended, and the Purple and Gold Club provided a DJ and free Rita’s Italian Ice. There was a raffle as well as a contest – in which participants had to be the first to get a folded, frozen T-shirt over their head – after which the winners received $50 gift cards to the SSI Bookstore. Members of the Purple and Gold Club milled about among the crowd to hand out information and recruit people to join.
“Since we have had so many people show interest in this club, we will be able to host some great events and get many people involved on campus,” said Wagner. “I think this club could have a major impact on West Chester University because many people have pride in their school already and they want to show it. We just help channel this pride and spirit into fun events on campus.”
Clare Haggerty is a second-year student majoring in English. She can be reached at CH757342@wcupa.edu.