Sarah Buchholtz

Features Editor

On Friday, Oct. 17, the Office of Sustainability and The STEM Zone hosted their first collaborative event, combining Party for the Planet and STEM Bash on the Residential Quad from 4-6 p.m. The crossover blended aspects of science and sustainability for an afternoon full of music, games and hands-on learning. 

The joint event included a variety of activities aimed at engaging students in science, sustainability and community building. STEM Bash featured lawn games, trivia, oobleck experiments and even “Pie a Prof.” 

Party for the Planet offered live music, raffle prizes, succulents and several pop-up tables highlighting different campus and community organizations. Local vendor Lerch’s Donuts provided donuts and cider for all attendees. 

The raffle encouraged students to visit multiple booths throughout the Res Quad. “When you walk in, you get a ticket and every time you interact with a different table, you get another raffle ticket,” said Kaniya Paige ’28, a volunteer with the Office of Sustainability. “Once students are about to leave, they can enter into whatever they want to get, which includes a free dinner, sustainable straws, a hammock and other things like that.”

The event was also a great way for students to reconnect after a week-long fall break. “I came to the event because I have some friends who have stands here, and I also just have fun going outside, getting involved and seeing what people are doing around campus,” said attendee Alissa O’Farrell ’29.

For some, the event was a way to see what else is happening around campus. “I’ve learned about a lot of new events that I didn’t know about previously, so that has been cool,” said attendee Jove Oleksy ’29.

Staff members and student interns helped set up the collaboration of the two events. “It can be difficult planning all events, but especially a big event like this,” said Peer Educator Intern Anna Mapes ’26. “But we have a really great staff, and people are always walking around asking if [the clubs and organizations] need help with anything.”

Live performances by “At Sum Point” and “JEMS” provided music throughout the afternoon as attendees traveled between the 17 different clubs and organizations participating in the event. “There has been a lot of traffic coming in and out,” added Paige.

The collaboration between the two offices was originally unplanned. “STEM Bash has gone on for 10 years and [the Office of] Sustainability started the ‘Party for the Planet’ three years ago,” STEM Zone Coordinator Kara Melrose stated. “We were having conflicting events, and I was like, ‘Why don’t we collaborate?’ So I talked to Brian Webb [Director of Campus Sustainability], and he thought it was a great idea and everything kind of just fell into place.” The timing of the collaboration aligned perfectly with Earth Science Week as well. 

The combined event concluded at 6 p.m. after two hours of activities, games, live music and campus community fun. “[The collaboration] makes sense … and the timing is good,” Melrose commented. “I think we will probably continue to do this … and I think it’ll work out.”

Overall, the collaboration of these two events was a success, and there is hope to continue it in the future.