With many groups planning significant events and others preparing the next installment in yearly traditions, it is clear that students have a lot to look forward to as SPU’s school year ends. With many familiar names appearing on the horizon, there seems to be no shortage of activities to close out 2024.
Shapadooah
Starting with SPU’s yearly music festival, Shapadooah returns to campus on Friday, May 17. Put together by the Student Outdoor Recreation Program, better known as STORP, they plan to showcase musical talents such as Jordy Searcy, Jervis Campbell and Oscar Warnersmith.
Putting Shapadooah together requires hard work and dedication on behalf of STORP members and the community. As STORP advisor Kevin Deschler explained, an essential part of making the event work is listening to students and finding ways to improve Shapadooah through their requests.
“Something we’ve been trying to do for Shapadooah is send out a lot of feelers to KSPU and social media and say, ‘We’re doing a music event. Who would you like to hear play?’” Deschler said. “I’m a big fan of feeling things out and dreaming. Anyone who has ideas for what we can do but is afraid of the barriers should know that it’s our job to remove those barriers.”
‘Ohana ‘O Hawai’i’s Lū’au
On Saturday, May 4, ‘Ohana ‘O Hawai’i will once again bring a celebration of Hawaiian culture to campus with their ninth annual lū’au. Throughout the night, students can enjoy fun activities, delicious food and a live song and dance performance by group members.
Though the preparation process for such a large event is long and not always easy, first-year business student and ‘Ohana ‘O Hawai’i treasurer Shailey Makahanaloa Valoroso is excited about the upcoming result. She is not only looking forward to bringing students a taste of Hawaiian culture but is also grateful for the opportunity to immerse herself in it.
“The planning process for our Lū’au starts as early as the fall quarter. The winter quarter is when we start cracking down. By spring quarter, things are a little more relaxed, but there’s still a lot of prepping,” Valoroso said. “Something I’m excited about is the food and the performance. I’ve been missing the food from back home and look forward to having it again. I’m also eager to get on stage and represent my culture in dance to share with everyone.”
MODE Fashion Show
Ending the year, once again, is a celebration of creativity from the SPU fashion community. MODE will be holding its annual fashion show on Saturday, May 11. With 2024’s theme being “Myths and Legends,” 15 students will showcase their hard work and uncanny artistic abilities. As always, students from all corners of campus can attend and enjoy the culmination of MODE’s year-long efforts.
MODE wants to improve and provide the best experience possible. As fifth-year apparel design and merchandising student and president of MODE Katie Taggart explained, much focus has been put on making the fashion show bigger and more enjoyable for as many people as possible.
“This year, we have some experience to refer back to, so things will run better than last year,” Taggart said. “Additionally, MODE will be featured on the local talk show New Day Northwest after the show. We’re going to have a couple of models from different collections presented on the show and get to promote MODE and the Apparel Design and Merchandising majors on TV, which will be super fun. It’ll be on King 5 on Wednesday, May 15 at 11 a.m.”
As the school year draws to a close, campus activity is doing anything but winding down. For any students interested in finding fun ways to spend their last few weeks at SPU, it is clear that they never have to look too far.
