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Student Life

The atmosphere was filled with joy and celebra-tion as Western Activities Council kicked off winter with Light Up Western.

The festivities on Dec. 2 included an “iceless” skat-ing rink, photos with Santa Claus and snacking on cookies and hot chocolate.

Missouri Western students and community mem-bers alike enjoyed the fun in the Fulkerson Center, which was decorated like a winter wonderland. Many children were in attendance and told Santa what they were hoping to receive for the holidays.

Along with celebrating the winter season, the event gave students an opportunity to relax while fall finals loomed on the horizon.

Charles Flemons, director of comedy for WAC, said the event was a good stress reliever for students.

“It gets you ready for Christmas, which is like the happiest time of the year, or at least its supposed to be,” Flemons said. “What better way to kick off Christmas and blow off some stress before finals than eating cookies and hanging out with Santa.”

Tony Dougherty, previous vice president of WAC, said he enjoyed the cookies, hot chocolate and the overall atmosphere of the event.

“Everyone loves Christmastime and the holidays and this just gets you pumped up even more,” he said. “The whole indoor ice skating was something we brought in last year and I’m really glad they’ve continued to do it because people really enjoy it.”

Jacob Teasley, junior and resident assistant in Scanlon hall was also in attendance.

“Light Up Western is awesome, I’ve had a really good time,” Teasley said. “I loved ice skating and sit-

ting on Santa’s lap, that was fun.”Along with having fun, Teasley said he was ex-

cited to have received the free prize of text-enabled gloves embroidered with the Griffon logo.

Dougherty said that attending events like this is a great way to relieve stress from finals and the last week of classes.

“This last week of classes is probably just as rough as finals week, so just being able to take a second, come out and have a good time, is definitely good for the students,” he said.

Student Government Association Vice President of WAC Julia Buescher said she was glad WAC could host such broad events.

“Events like this focus on the whole campus so anybody can come to it,” she said. “We have people from the community here, so it’s just a wide range of people that can come to

the event, which I think is a success no matter how many people show up.”

Buescher also encouraged students to get in-volved in WAC.

“Any student has a say in Western Activities Coun-cil,” she said. “We are constantly voting on things, and anybody can bring a different idea to the table. I encourage students to come to our meetings so that way they have a say. It’s not a dictatorship - it’s a democracy.”

Flemons said students should look for more events throughout the semester hosted by WAC, not just around the holidays.

“Come to all WAC events; we throw them for you,” Flemons said.

one hundred and seven 107Story and Design: Taylor Allen

Photos: NIck Ingram

Light Up Western kicks off winter and spreads holiday cheer

Light Up Western brought together entertainment and fun for Griffons and community members on Dec. 2 in Fulkerson Center. Students saw the Kelley Commons lit up (top), enjoyed carols from Western Appeal (above), skated in an iceless skating rink (above right) and took pictures with Santa (right).

“What better way to kick off Christmas and blow off some stress

before finals than eating cookies and hanging out with Santa.”

-Charles FlemonsWAC Director of Comedy

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