By Hailey MacDonald, Editor-in-Chief
April is always jam-packed with events and programs all around campus, and this year has been no different. BOLD Media, which is comprised of the six student media organizations at Western New England University, hosted five programs in one week, and they’re not finished yet.
On Thursday, April 8, the Print Media organizations hosted a Celebration of Art and Media. The Westerner, the Cupola Yearbook, and the Review of Art and Literature came together on that beautiful Thursday evening and offered students the opportunity to paint birdhouses, grab greeting and encouragement cards to send to their family and friends, try out some origami, and enjoy a photo booth.
WNEK The Voice provided their infamous mobile DJing services for this event, and as hit music and throwbacks flowed out of the speakers in the St. Germain Campus Center, students were able to take some time away from their day to relax and have fun.
On Friday night, WNEK The Voice hosted a program on Commonwealth Lawn. They played bingo with a WNEK twist — instead of numbers and letters running vertically and horizontally down and across the card, it was something a bit more on-brand for the student radio station.
Those in attendance had bingo cards filled with songs that correlated with that rounds’ genre, and when a snippet of that song played, they could cross off that box on their card. There were four rounds: rap and hip hop, 2000s pop hits, country classics, and rock and roll. Those who attended the program and played a round were able to enjoy free ice cream — who doesn’t love free ice cream?
Saturday, April 10 was a big day: it was the day of the BOLD Media Festival and the After Party.
At 4:00p.m., BOLD Media hosted an exclusive invite-only awards ceremony on the fourth floor balcony of the University Commons. There were several awards to give — general members of the year for each media organization had their names printed on plaques for each media office, and there were award winners for the best submissions of the film, art, written, and audio categories.
At 8:00p.m. that night on Deliso Lawn was the After Party. Award winners and other students joined the BOLD Media organizations for a night of food, dancing, and fun! The Review of Art and Literature put together a photo scavenger hunt, where students would go around the event and take photos of different items and club members in exchange for raffle tickets.
There were a handful of raffle prizes, including a GoPro, a writing and journaling basket, a bluetooth speaker, and more. Attendees could also enjoy a variety of different kinds of loaded baked potatoes from Spuds Food Truck, which was a hit.
Tuesday was the Review of Art and Literature’s annual — and highly anticipated — Release Party. The executive board and staff members of the club were joined by the book’s student, staff, and faculty creators and supporters to see the brand new art and literary magazine for the very first time!
The style of this year’s magazine is a purple composition notebook with a few hand-drawn “stickers” printed onto the front and back covers. The “stickers” were created by the staff members in September, and now, six months later, they are able to see their art published on the cover of the magazine.
Those attending the event were able to enjoy gourmet cupcakes from NoRA Cupcake Company. From the multiple flavors that were offered, the strawberries and cream and cookie dough were the most sought after.
Finally, on Wednesday and through the rest of the week, the Cupola Yearbook and the Review of Art and Literature handed out their new books to the senior class. This year’s yearbook is called “Paws for Reflection,” and the yearbook staff worked hard amidst the unprecedented year to make it happen.
Beginning on Monday, April 18, students who aren’t seniors will be able to pick up both the yearbook and the magazine. For the first three days, however, it was exclusively available for seniors.
There are a bunch of other events scheduled throughout the rest of the month hosted by the Campus Activities Board and, of course, the highly-anticipated Spring Event featuring Lee Brice and Maddie & Tae. To see what’s happening, check out www1.wne.edu/calendar.