The class of 2006 announced its schedule for the 2006 senior week, which will take place the week before Commencement, running from May 17th to the 25th.
Senior class president Nattavadee Temkasem said this year's Senior Week is remarkable for its low price. Tickets to all eight Senior Week events will cost $105. Attending such events would otherwise cost about $350, Temkasem said.
Last year's festivities was priced at $100 but only offered six events as compared to this years eight.
"Last year, prices were pretty high, so there was less participation," Temkasem said. "[This year] we got eight great events, put everything together, and really kept the price down."
The week opens with a trip to Camden Yards and closes with a party for seniors and their parents at Levering Hall. While several of this year's events, including a trip Atlantic City, a crab feast, and a midnight cruise on the Inner Harbor, are familiar from previous years, the baseball game will be new this year.
Temkasem declined to reveal how much Senior Week would cost to put on, but said it is "a lot. The Department of Student Life helped pay a lot. Alumni Relations gave us ten grand."
Publicity for Senior Week is just beginning. "The breezeway banner is up. Class e-mail and website will soon to follow. Letter to parents are being send out next week. Ticket sales begin Monday after spring break, March 27th and go on for four weeks," Temkasem wrote in an email.
Jay Rubin, development program
coordinator for the Office of Alumni Relations, worked to organize the trip to Camden Yards. Most of the cost of the event will be paid by the alumni association, Rubin said, leaving a ticket price of $5 dollars for seniors.
"This is just to give back and support Hopkins studentsc9We just want to let students have a great time at a low price," Rubin said.
The Office of Student Life is sponsoring a party on May 25th, the day of Commencement.
Susan Boswell, dean of student life, wrote in an email that the party is "an opportunity for students to reconnect with their classmates following commencement. It runs from about 11 p.m. until 3 a.m. and breakfast is served at 2 a.m.. We have had over 600 students attend each year. It's a lot of fun and has been a big success."
The event will cost about $8000 to put on, Boswell wrote.
Senior Micaela Browning found the Senior Week packages well-priced. "Just going by face value of what I would think all of that costs, it seems reasonable," she said.
But Senior Week will not unite the class, Browning pointed out. "Everyone will just hang out with their friends, no one is looking to meet new people at this stage of the game."
Senior Sarah Lash was more optimistic. "Well, ideally we would come together before senior week, but I think going to the events might allow people to spend time with old friends that they might not have been socializing with recently, like the random people who once lived near you in the dorms and whatnot," she said.
Senior Melissa Lee said, "[The price] is fairly reasonable for what you get. It would probably cost less than if you bought things separately."
Lee plans to attend some of the events, including the crab feast and a trip to the clubs at the Inner Harbor.
"I like the idea of the midnight cruise. It sounds fun," she added.
Asked which events she would attend, Temkasem said, "All of them. Yes, yes, yes, all of them, if I'm not too tired."
More information about Senior Week events can be found at http://web.jhu.edu/studentprograms/involvement/StuCo/2006/SrWk06
