Calling all creatives and media lovers. From photographers to DJs to journalists, Seattle Pacific University’s media groups want you to join! It is time to answer the call. 

On Thursday, Oct. 13, KSPU hosted its annual media launch party in Eaton Hall from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.  For the first time, they invited every other media group on campus to join them in the celebration. The featured media groups included KSPU, The Falcon, Cascade and Lingua, who all play an important role as the main system of media on SPU’s campus.

First year cellular and molecular biology major Marcin Janczak attended the event and felt that the fun-loving and energetic atmosphere the media groups created pulled him in. 

“I saw this event advertised on the SPU Instagram account, and I thought this would be pretty cool to attend,” Janczak said. “When I got here, there were so many things to do, and I just wanted to stick around.”

Each club had activities that the attendees could participate in. Students could decorate CDs to be burned, make origami, take photos, make collages and enjoy live performances. 

“I spent most of my time writing songs on CDs that they would burn for us, which seemed like a cool idea. There were also collages and live music, so I really liked the event,” Janczak said. “I had a lot of songs by the Eels. My favorite song that I put on my CD was ‘My Timing is Off.’”

The event sparked Janczak’s interest in joining some of the clubs in the future. 

“I am really drawn to the Falcon. It’s the one I know the most about, but it also seems like it would be the most fun to write things that the student body can have access to,” Janczak said. “I also liked the Cascade booth, which had a photo station for the yearbook. I thought that it would be interesting to be a part of that.”

Second year music research major Isabel Hughes was also in attendance at the launch party and found herself gravitating towards two clubs where she could creatively express herself on a deep level. 

“Of all of the media groups, I would probably either join KSPU because I’m a music fan or Lingua because I am also a poet. I love writing poetry, writing, singing, playing guitar and all different types of music. In Lingua, I would write anything raw and authentic – anything that is, in general, a powerful message that hits hard or hits home as well,” Hughes said. 

The format of the launch party may have strayed from that of years past, but KSPU and the other media groups welcomed the unification with open arms and were excited to invite students to explore their group and get involved. 

Third year marketing major and KSPU’s station manager Sage Driscoll helped organize the launch party.

“Media night is in place of our annual launch party, but we also have our own events like karaoke and listening parties. We do a lot of those for new album releases that come out, we also partner with Shapadooah and do a spring concert usually,” Driscoll said. 

Third year art history and studio art major Macs Herdrich, Lingua’s editor, also was involved in the event and wants to encourage all at SPU to join Lingua if they feel it is the right fit for them.

“We normally have a journal release party in the winter and spring, so those are pretty similar to the launch parties. Lingua’s for everyone, not just art majors,” Hendrich said. “We want everyone who makes any type of writing or art to submit to us. We’re hoping to have a photography open house so that people can get their work photographed nicely and they can submit it to us that way.” 

Fourth year visual communications major and Cascade Editor-in-Chief Riley Kelley wants to bring attention back to the school’s yearbook and make it something that is known to all students, especially those who are considering joining in the process of creation. 

“We collect photos, and we design and produce an entire yearbook collecting memories and events from the whole year, and we make it into a pretty book. After two to three years of Cascade being online, it is a group that has been a little bit forgotten about, but we are here still,” Kelley said.

Whether a person is interested in becoming a journalist or photographer for The Falcon, creating the yearbook with Cascade, becoming a DJ for KSPU or submitting poetry and art for Lingua, there is a place for them. A community fostered in creativity and personal expression is at the root of the media groups at SPU, which creates an environment of belonging and unity that can be tough to find. 

 “It is great to know that there is a place for my passions to thrive. For me, poetry paints beauty and light within the dark parts of myself,” Hughes said. “I feel like I need to paint beauty out of the hard things that have happened to me in life.”