Students were bombarded with information, candy, and other enticing giveaways from every table at the Celebration of Mines, on Friday, August 31, 2012.
One prominent guest at the celebration was Blaster, the school’s burro mascot. According to an anonymous Blue Key member who walked him through the crowd, Blaster has been a favorite amongst Mines students. Seemingly well socialized, Blaster enjoyed munching on Kadafar Commons grass as children petted him.
The Celebration of Mines may have been a campus group fair but its colorful booths and activities made the event seem like a playground and festival for all who attended. Through tactful placement of their organizations, the Ballroom Dance Club and the Anonymous Right Brains, a live jam student group, created a festive atmosphere at the northwest region of the event. Students from both groups played well off of each other and their efforts generated a large crowed of. Toward the center of the booths, another large crowed gathered around the Board and Gaming Club’s table, waiting to use of the group’s nerf gun to do some target shooting.
In addition to the entertainment, Celebration of Mines was full of free food and drink. Favorites included the hot dog stand, ice cream stand, and hot pretzel stand. Across from the hot pretzel stand, Sigma Lambda members advertised an upcoming panel discussion with Lockheed Martin, an aeronautical engineering company, to be held on September 13, 2012. Club members expressed the value of hearing the insider’s perspective on tolerance in the engineering workplace.
Messages of tolerance, acceptance, and diversity were reiterated by groups throughout the celebration. The President’s Committee on Diversity offered all who visited their booth an opportunity to make diversity bracelets. The Committee also offered a bingo card by which one could earn a “Celebrate (YOU)niqueness” t-shirt. The back of the shirts contained a suitable quote from Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”
On a similar note, a booth that surprised some by its existence was the LAIS table. Table attendant Sarah Hitt, director of the campus writing center, said, “Liberal Arts are especially important for scientists and engineers because, for example, it enables them to put the human perspective into design and analysis of effects of technology.”
As advertised at this semester’s Celebration of Mines, the school included a number of opportunities for students to customize their education and experiences on campus. Senior student Xinwei Yan of China expressed his desire to continue being a diverse asset to the campus after his graduation. He said he hoped to accomplish this by completing a masters at Mines in petroleum engineering. When asked for a summary of upcoming events on campus, Yan expressed his great excitement for the upcoming International Day on November 10, 2012.
The organizations on campus represented at Celebration of Mines ranged from professional engineering societies to dance clubs to sport clubs – quite a diverse group.