By Michael Pedro
If you’re reading this, you might be wondering one thing- “what the heck is a Class Weekend?” Class Weekends are a new tradition that Student Involvement and Connections seeks to push, effective this year. They’ll consist of a smaller Golden Hours event open to the entire campus community on a certain day, and a larger, more expensive, class-specific event held on another day. Ironically enough, the first one isn’t even on a weekend, but rather on a Thursday and a Friday. The inaugural class weekend will run from Thursday, October 10, to Friday, October 11, and it’s hosted by the Class of 2026. Thursday will see a Golden Hours event called “Pumpkin Palooza”, held in the Campus Center Mall from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. This event will see bingo, raffles, and many fun prizes themed after the season. “There will be free prizes, snacks, and fun bingo,” Camden Kaufmann, the Vice President of the 2026 Class Council said. “I’m very excited about the [fall-] themed prizes,” Autumn Bissonnette, the 2026 Class Council’s Treasurer said.
Friday’s event is far larger, as it will be a semi-formal event held at the Springfield Elks Lodge. The theme of the event is “Meet Me At Midnight”. There will be transportation to and from the event in the form of shuttles from Western New England University. At the event, you can have a nice dinner and dance the night away. “The semiformal is one of the only class-specific events not exclusively for seniors,” Callie LaRose, the 2026 Class Council’s president said. As most class-specific events are exclusive to the senior class, this is a huge step in giving each class something fun to look forward to each year. “It’s the start of a new tradition,” Lindsei Walsh, the secretary of the 2026 Class Council said. The event runs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., and tickets will be available for members of the Class of 2026 on University Tickets.
