Last week seniors had the opportunity to rank their choices for the 2017 Senior Class Gift. Several options were available including a bar counter for a new pub on campus, a coffee cart for the library, a statue of Sister McAuley on a bench, an update for the Student Union, a path from the laker, an update for the first floor of the library, and a communion rail for the Christ the King Chapel.

“We go with whatever the majority vote is. We come up with the ideas and the rest is entirely up to the Class of 2017,” Cailey DeWaine, marketing co-chair of the Senior Class Gift Committee, said.
The committee holds meetings every week to brainstorm the ideas.

“We hold meetings every Wednesday at 3 p.m. and we open it up to anyone who’s interested. We’ve had about 20 regular members. We brainstorm ideas of what the students want and their friends and then what the underclassmen want because they really are the ones who will get to enjoy it,” DeWaine said.

The committee also had ideas come in from the administration.

“President Victor has had a lot of inclusion too. He’s the one really pushing for the pub in Grotto Commons.” DeWaine said.

The senior gift would not be able to fund all the aspects necessary to make a bar on campus a reality. However, the gift would entail a custom bar top comprised of pictures from the Class of 2017.
“I really like the pub idea. Can you imagine a Sunday night watching football at a bar on campus? It would be so nice,” DeWaine said.

Many are skeptical as to why the university would approve of a bar on campus. Some believe it could be to better regulate drinking on campus or even to make it safer for those of age to have an occasional drink.

“I think it’s more about putting money back into the school. But think about it. The Stone has really great specials, so they would have to compete with that. That would be great for the students,” DeWaine said.

The final decision will lie in the hands of the survey.

“It’s not about what the committee wants. It’s who we are representing,” DeWaine said.

The work of the Senior Class Gift Committee is far from over. Once the gift is decided they plan all of the fundraising to make that gift a reality.

“Next we’re planning the Christmas bar crawl and the senior date auction. It’s a lot of fun. All the money from those events goes into the budget,” DeWaine said.