You can’t assume that everyone has Facebook

Imagine wanting to go to an event, only to find that the tickets sold out before you even knew they were on sale. This recently happened to the senior class with their event, 100 Days: A Night in Saratoga. Word of ticket sales was only spread through the Class of 2018 Facebook page; with updates only being posted in this group, the announcement did not effectively reach the entire senior class. Ticket sales went live January 26, and by January 30, the tickets were sold out.

Only 300 tickets were allotted for a class of over 1,500 students. Seniors were angered, and were asking the class council why word was not spread about the event through email—an information source all students are expected to check. Grand Marshal Justin Etzine ’18 commented, “Access to class mailing lists was recently taken away from class presidents. We’re working on a solution to this, but, in the meantime, class presidents have been barred from communicating with their classes without submitting their emails in advance to different departments for approval.”

It is absurd that class presidents suddenly cannot email their own class members. One of the responsibilities of a senior class president is to communicate with their class, even past graduation.

The tickets went live again at noon on February 2, with many anxious seniors crowding the online page to purchase; except this time, there were only 100 tickets available, and seniors could purchase a ticket for a guest, but not another senior. Why do guests have priority over seniors? The event is meant to bring the senior class together, yet an overwhelming majority is unable to attend this year’s Class of 2018 100 Days event.

The class council should have properly anticipated more of the senior class coming when planning this event; the fact that some students cannot attend their own senior gathering as a way of celebrating their last 100 days at Rensselaer is disappointing.

Maria Kozdroy CIVL ’18