On Friday, Oct. 17, the Seattle Pacific University Area Council, a group of students dedicated to serving and leading the residence halls on campus, hosted its second annual cruise event. Students were invited to board the ship for an evening of dancing, games and bottomless Shirley Temples. Over 180 students attended the event, most of which were freshman.
The ship itself was chartered from Argosy Cruises, a company with a fleet of six boats used for school events, corporate gatherings, sightseeing tours and more. This year, students sailed the Good Time II out of Shilshole Bay Marina at 5:30 p.m. The new location was chosen to make transportation easier for students.
Adeline Smith, a second year majoring in political science and honors liberal arts, helped plan the event as the Area Council PR coordinator.
“I hope that students take away from this event a sense of community, and that SPU is not just about doing school,” Smith said. “It’s also about having fun, building relationships and just enjoying Seattle.”
This was the first event overseen by Joseph Clint, a residence life coordinator acting as the Area Council Advisor this year. This is his first year at Seattle Pacific. He reported that the team hopes the event catalyzed underclassmen relationships.
“We strategically plan this for the third week of the quarter so students have made some primary connections,” Clint said. “It’s geared toward first year students. This is a different way of experiencing Seattle than they’re probably used to.”
On the cruise, most students elected to dance the night away on the upper deck and participated in games like musical chairs. This was evident from the bottom deck, where those relaxing at tables could see the roof bending due the massive amount of dancing feet above. Clint, on behalf of Area Council, hopes that all students were able to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones.
Each quarter, Area Council hosts one large event. Although it will be hard to beat the cruise, they plan to host a talent show event in the winter and the formal All Hall Ball in the spring. You can stay up to date by following @areacouncil.spu on Instagram.
