Grand Marshal Week has quite the legacy—in years past, it has been an escape for students from the mundane class schedule and stressful workload, during which they can enjoy all the traditions RPI has to offer; however, this year’s celebrations seemed slightly above the excitement of sitting in class. Free food brought crowds to Kickoff and Midweek, but by the end of the Finale, the handful of attendees were simply waiting to run away once election results were announced.
While the Editorial Board of The Poly recognizes that effort and planning went into the events, we should learn from the poor attendance and lack of enthusiasm this year. We advise future members of the GM Week Committee to talk to students and determine what kind of events they would enjoy attending. Ask yourselves if an awkward high school-esque Decades Dance in the McNeil Room on a Friday night is what appeals to RPI students. (Spoiler alert: The answer is no.) Finally, the events need to be publicized better next year; it was just too easy to miss this time around. There was no hype, even from the candidates running for top positions.
Kickoff was well attended and the food was amazing (though it was all gone after the first hour of a three-hour event), but it went downhill from there. Students felt the highlight of Midweek was that members of the administration were serving them food. The carnival could have been more fun if the games weren’t better suited for younger siblings. However, we’re never too old for inflatables and fireworks, which have proved to be successful during past GM Weeks.
If we don’t turn GM Week around in the next couple years, everybody who remembers its glory days will have graduated. It’s not a lost cause, and this year was not a total failure, but the task for next year’s GM Week Committee is huge: to make up what the tradition has lost over the years. We need to make GM Week as fun as it used to be before such a long-standing event meets its end.
