The Class of 2024 will receive extra funding for its Senior Week events. The primary motivation behind the extra funding was the absence of orientation events throughout the class’s first year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Senior Class President Melissa Su ’24, the graduating class is usually given a little less than $30,000 for its Senior Week budget. But, Su explained that Director of Student Activities Nate Hintze told the Senior Class Council they will be given an extra, undisclosed amount from the College. This will be in addition to the Class Dues that fund class-centered events. The increase in the Senior Week budget will only apply to the Class of 2024.

“I met with [Hintze] and the rest of my council,” Su said. “And that was just [about] general Senior Week planning, and he mentioned that the school has a particular interest in making our Senior Week special in the ways that other Senior Weeks haven’t been special just because of our first-year circumstance.”

While there is still some uncertainty on whether the extra funds will be spread out for events throughout the week or if they will go towards one bigger event, the Senior Class Council has been brainstorming with Hintze on how to make the week an exceptional experience.

“We’re trying to do something original. One thing that [Hintze] suggested was that we could do a prom, like a really formal prom because we didn’t get that in high school,” Ma said. “But other ideas are still cooking up.”

Senior Class Vice-President Ugne Stasiukynaite ’24 said that a concert may also be in the realm of possibilities, but complexities in scheduling diminish the possibility of having seniors participate in the orientation trips they missed out on in their first year.

“[Orientation] trips [were] a thing that [seniors] reached out to us about [as] something that they would like to see but…we don’t have enough [orientation] trip leaders, and specifically during that week, I think there’s [orientation] trip training for actual [orientation] trips for first years,” Stasiukynaite said.

Last year, the Class of 2023 did not receive extra funding and explored different avenues to ensure it had enough money for the planned programming, according to Su. This year, however, she is grateful that the College has given them more grace in their Senior Week budget, especially considering their unique set of circumstances when they first arrived on campus.

“I know last year’s [senior] council, when they were really slim on money, were going to the president and other places to get extra funding. It was very hard for them,” Su said. “So, I commend the school for stepping forward and proposing the idea.”