Campus goes green for St. MACtrick’s Day

Snowstorm Stella could not prevent the campus from celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day. On March 18th, the students of the Muhlenberg Activities Council (MAC) transformed themselves into leprechauns by sponsoring Muhlenberg’s first ever St. MACtrick’s Day event.

The free event was originally supposed to take place on the front lawn and Parent’s Plaza, but the blizzard forced the festivities to move inside the Life Sports Center. Luckily, the MAC was prepared just in case the lawn was too snowy for the celebration.

“The blizzard really did change our plans. We were not caught off guard however,” said Maddie McCandless ’19, Vice President and Treasurer for MAC. “We had planned on having the event outside on the front lawn with the DJ in Parent’s Plaza and the food on the BBQ outside cooked to order. We did have a back up rain plan. We made two separate diagrams for sun and rain. We just adapted our rain location for snow.”

Students had the privilege to enjoy many fun activities, which included a bounce house obstacle course, bounce house jousting, giant Jenga, ladder ball, corn hole, can jam, and DJ Dubious, who also performed for MAC’s Milkshake Party event earlier in the semester.

Along with the activities, yummy St. Patrick’s Day-themed food was served, such as BBQ Whiskey Chicken Apple Sausage (a take on the traditional bangers and mash), veggie burgers with mushy pea spread, cookies, Irish potatoes (which is a Philadelphian candy made from a coconut cream ball rolled in cinnamon sugar), and shamrock shakes.

T-shirts, necklaces, pins, sunglasses, and tattoos were provided as giveaways that coordinated with the St. Patrick’s Day theme.

McCandless designed the t-shirts herself, emphasizing that she “...wanted to make a logo for the event while still incorporating our council logo on the back of the shirt so that when students look back and remember the event they do not forget who put it together.”

The event had more students than MAC anticipated, but due to the Council’s hard work, they were aptly prepared.

“The event initially started as a small activity that the Special Events and Weekends committee was planning,” said McCandless. “The event quickly grew to be too large for one committee to plan and we opened it up to the entire

council. For example, the music committee took charge of the lawn games and comedy was in contact with the DJ.”

McCandless assists the President with overseeing the committee heads and making executive decisions. Together, they organize the executive meetings, lead the general board meetings, and schedule and reserve locations.

For Saint MACtrick’s day, McCandless met with some of the faculty members to create a digital design for the lay- out of the event and was involved in the contracts for the bounce houses and DJ Dubious.

Doubling as treasurer, McCandless organizes the contracts, manages the budget, and makes sure that everyone gets paid.

“I love being a part of the council because you can really do whatever you want to see come to campus. You have a lot of freedom and it is great experience in leading a team and marketing for the events,” said McCandless.

This year MAC is working on rebranding the club as a whole. They are trying to come up with activities that the entire student body will benefit from, instead of just having events that are just alternatives to partying. The student leaders on the executive board also have a lot more freedom than years past.

“It is a really rewarding council to be a part of because after you plan the event and set it up, you can relax and just enjoy the show,” said McCandless.

“You also meet a lot of cool people while working. It has given me so many incredible opportunities and will definitely help me in the long run with my marketing career as well because we are doing everything on our own, from making the phone calls to running the event and being the go to people for our guest entertainers,” she added.

St. MACtrick’s Day could not take place without the dedication of the MAC, who plans all campus-wide events.

If anyone is interested in planning any events on campus, they are more then welcome to attend MAC’s weekly meetings at 5pm on Wednesdays in the Red Door and join one of the Council’s committees.

To find out more information regarding campus events and trips, follow Muhlenberg Activities Council on Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. Look out for future events such as UPROAR, which is this year’s Spring Concert, as well as an escape the room event and a DJ class.