Saint Mary’s Student Government Association (SGA) launched the SMCard to improve the student body’s participation in on-campus activities during the Student Diversity Board's (SDB) annual bonfire on the College’s soccer field Wednesday evening.
“We wanted to launch this event at the SDB Bonfire because it is one of the first major events on campus that usually gets high attendance,” student body president McKenna Schuster said.
The initiative, pronounced S-M-C-card, offers a reward to Saint Mary’s students who engage in the College community, Schuster said.
“This initiative has been developed by the Student Government Association to help increase attendance at all events on Saint Mary’s Campus,” Schuster said. “We wanted to create an incentive for students to attend events while boosting school spirit and morale.”
The cards were distributed during Wednesday's tri-campus event. The SDB bonfire was intended to be a gathering of Saint Mary's, Holy Cross and Notre Dame students in order to display the diversity of the three campuses.
“There is a lot of hype created around the Bonfire, and we thought it would be a great way for students to get their first stamp to start off,” Schuster said.
The SMCard is a punch card that rewards students after every stamp, Sam Moorhead, student body vice president said.
“The SMCard will encourage greater student involvement by rewarding the students with stamps for each event they attend for the respective group on the card,” Moorhead said.
Schuster said the events at which the cards can be stamped will be advertised on the SGA calendar and posted in the student center. If students were unable to pick the card up at the bonfire, they can acquire them at the SGA office, Student Involvement and Multicultural Services (SIMS) office or future campus events.
“Some events where the punch cards can be used include specified sporting events, Belle-A-Boo, any Support A Belle, Love a Belle event, Food Week, BAVO sponsored events and much more,” Schuster said. “There are so many events put on by students who work so hard. I cannot wait to see all the increased support.”
Moorhead said the support will be rewarded in more ways than one.
“Each student who fills their card with all ten stamps is entered into a drawing to win an awesome prize,” Moorhead said.
Moorhead said completed SMCards will be submitted to the SGA office and kept there until the end of the semester.
“The deadline for submissions is the last day of classes, Dec. 11,” Moorhead said.
Schuster said the raffle will take place at the end of the semester.
“The drawing of the winner will occur at our annual midnight breakfast, which happens during finals week,” Schuster said. “This just adds one more exciting element to the midnight breakfast for students to look forward to.”
The cards will include students name and ID number.
“A distinct punch out will be used so that students cannot fake attendance at events,” Schuster said.
Moorhead said that if campus-held activity attendance improves, she hopes SGA will continue to use the SMCards in the future.
“We are excited to start this initiative and if successful, we hope to continue it next semester and in years to come,” Moorhead said.
The cards were designed by Katie Calhoun, SGA market media and research committee chair.
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