By SAVANNAH TOREBKA
Managing Editor
The New York State Museum hosted Celebrate Saint Rose Day on Friday, Mar. 22, to celebrate the legacy of the college and the history of New York. Students of Saint Rose were admitted to the event for free with their school ID’s.
Professor Jessica Otitigbe and her COM 430 class, organized the event as a way to bring students together before the end of the semester. “We started this project last semester, and the whole idea was to connect students with a community client in the area to work on a strategic advertising proposal,” Otitigbe said. “When we visited the museum the conversation led to how we can get community organizations to engage with college students.”
Students participated in a museum-wide scavenger hunt, where they were sent out to find different artifacts and objects across several exhibits. Students that completed the hunt were given their choice of prizes from an assortment of gift cards, tote bags, mugs, and other merchandise.
“The scavenger hunt was made by us with riddles leading to the items written by me. We had various prizes as door prizes and scavenger hunt prizes like gift cards, coupons for pizza, and gifts donated to us by the museum that were all New York themed. We made the scavenger hunt take participants through as much of the museum as possible and put specific items in due to their importance to the museum,” said Kyla Mayberry, one of the students in charge of organizing the event.
The museum trip was originally planned for December of last year, however due to the news of Saint Rose’s closure being released during that time, the trip was postponed. “The original date intended ended up being the date for Marcia White’s public address to the school… it was honestly a blessing in disguise… it gave the three of us more time to regroup and pin down the exact ideas we wanted,” said student, Christian Nowicki.
“After the shut down was announced our goal changed into being a stress reliever for students and giving them something fun to do off campus on a Friday with their friends. Having the event finally run was amazing because of how long we had spent planning it,” Mayberry said.
Professor Otitigbe is well-known for emphasizing the importance of students caring for their mental health, particularly as Saint Rose prepares for its closure. While the trip to the museum was initially intended to be primarily for academic purposes, the event ended up symbolizing much more.
“To create a special day for students to come together and check out the museum and all it has to offer makes me really happy. You see how important it is for students to connect, even in a stressful time like this,” Otitigbe said.
“I feel it was a nice event to get students together off campus in a way that could still show their school spirit,” Nowicki said.
As the end of the semester and Saint Rose’s legacy nears closer, finding new ways to come together and take care of one another is more important than ever. For Professor Otitigbe and her COM 430 class, this is a mission they will continue striving to accomplish until the very end.
