To the Editor:
I am extremely disappointed in The Poly’s reporting of the Grand Marshal Week 2009 events, but I am thankful for their coverage and points of view, and I am already looking forward to next year with this year’s criticisms in mind. That being said, as the chair of this year’s GM Week Committee, I would like to explain some of the history of GM Week and what the committee did this year to prepare for all the events.
The first Grand Marshal was elected in 1865, and with his election started an annual tradition of celebration in downtown Troy during the night of the election announcements. As the school and week of elections grew, so did the celebration, soon becoming the week of activities we currently celebrate. In its glory days, the GM Week Finale used to consist of free beer for all students and a parade for the candidates in downtown Troy. Unfortunately, due to the drinking age rising to 21 and the somewhat lackluster enthusiasm toward student politics on our campus, GM Week has much changed since those days.
Over the past few years, the enthusiasm of GM Week has greatly decreased, and the Committee this year looked to the past to try and recreate what GM Week used to be. A major part of GM Week in the ’80s and early ’90s used to be a large week-long carnival that offered rides, food, and entertainment to the students at a low fee—this tradition ended when the placement of the Ferris Wheel in the Mueller Center parking lot cracked the pavement. And so the tradition of the inflatables and fireworks began. With the construction of the East Campus Athletic Village, it has been impossible for the Committee to do fireworks for the past couple years, and we were informed last year by a variety of sources that inflatables were just getting old.
Knowing that we needed a change, the GM Week Committee began planning for this year’s events in August 2008 and immediately began by reviewing what worked and what didn’t work in the past. By mid-October, we sent around a survey of what students would like to see using SurveyMonkey and Facebook and received participation from nearly 500 students, claiming they’d like to see food from Troy restaurants, an informal dance, carnival-themed activities, and no more inflatables.
The Committee worked very hard this year to change the direction that GM Week has been heading and to try to open the door for the committees after us to resurrect the glory days of the week. We concentrated on traditions of the past, like the carnival games and the parade, and traditions of the future, like the Twitter scavenger hunt. We’re enthusiastic about the students’ acceptance to bring back some old traditions as seen in the great turnout we had at the Kickoff (12 restaurants donated enough food for 300 people, and it was gone within an hour and a half at Midweek), and the largest voter turnout this school has seen in a while.
The Committee is already looking forward to next year and thanks everyone who came to the events to support week. We welcome any new member to the Committee, as fresh ideas and a new outlook are always needed. If you have any ideas of things you’d like to see next year, constructive criticisms, or just want to let us know what you felt worked or didn’t work, I invite you to contact me to let us know what you think. I strongly urge you to join the Committee and help us make next year even better. Here’s looking to GM Week 2010!
Courtney Sawicki
CHME ’10
