Andrew Gutman
Features Editor
This upcoming week will be a major moment in the history of Springfield College: President Mary-Beth Cooper will be having her inauguration on Friday, Nov. 15 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Blake Arena.
Being personable and invested in her students, Cooper wanted to make sure that this year’s inauguration was as much about the students as it was about her.
“Her entire theme of this inauguration is more about Springfield College and less about herself. That speaks to who she is as a president,” said Assistant Director of Student Activities Annie Warchol. “She doesn’t want to be in the spotlight; she wants this to be a celebration of this institution.”
To make this week one that is fun for all, Copper and Warchol, along with the Inauguration Coordinating Committee and various subcommittees – comprised of Resident Assistants, student leaders and class officers – got together to discuss the week. The end result was the idea of the Cooper Cup.
“[President Cooper] thought it would be great,” said Warchol. “She is a very friendly, personable president. She is really here for the students, and she wants the students to enjoy their time here.”
The Cooper Cup will be a competition between classes that will have a plethora of different activities, some of which go back deep into the roots of Springfield. They include Cage Ball, a Spiritual Life event on Rally Hill, a tug-of-war contest, a Build-A-Bear event where 50 bears will be donated to Shriners Hospital, and the Naismith Original Rules Basketball Game.
To win the Cooper Cup, classes will be competing against each other in terms of attendance. When students attend inauguration-associated events from Tuesday through a portion of Thursday, they will get to sign in as a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior. At the conclusion of the Original Rules Basketball Game, the class with the highest total attendance over the course of the preceding events will emerge victorious.
Standings of the attendance numbers for each class will be posted to The Springfield Student’s Facebook page at the end of Tuesday and Wednesday so students can see where their class ranks compared to the others.
After the basketball game, the president will award the Cooper Cup, and with it bragging rights, to the winning class. Cooper felt that bringing back games like these will help to reinforce the theme of “Springfield Pride.”
With a week full of so many exciting events, Cooper is making it known that she truly puts the students first.