Mackenzie Sheldon | Opinion editor
Congratulations on making it to the spring semester!
If you’re a first-year, you have some exciting new events coming your way. Even if you're not a first year, you'll be happy to see some new or familiar events from past years. You’ve already seen, and hopefully attended, Welcome Back Week and Winter Fest, but CAB has so much more waiting for you!
CAB hosts their annual Spring Fest sometime in late April or early May. They plan a week's worth of events from puppy yoga to a carnival set up right in the Fine Arts parking lot. Last year's theme was Spotify and each day had a different event relating to the theme. At the end of the carnival, everyone makes their way to Mansfield Sports Complex to enjoy some fireworks over the field. It is a special celebration to congratulate everyone on making it through the semester.
CAB also puts a lot of thought into what events will be held each semester. I sat down with Nikki Flynn, a long-term cabbie, to get some insight into the event planning process and what CAB has in store for us this year. Nikki has been a cabbie since January 2022; once they graduate, it'll be 3 ½ years with CAB!
How does CAB decide what events should be had for the next semester?
“We're broken up into different branches such as social media and graphics and event planning. Each branch will propose events they want to see in the Spring starting in the fall semester and we’ll work with our supervisors to work out the calendar as a whole so that when everyone leaves for winter break, we have a decent idea of what events are happening. Each branch does up to 5 to 7 events.”
What are some of your favorite events CAB has done so far?
“I always love Fall Fest and Spring Fest, specifically the CAB carnival. The fireworks and carnival are the most attended events. We get to see a lot of the campus community get together and celebrate the closing of another year.”
Are all of the events CAB plans on the semester calendar inside the resident's halls?
“Yes! Even if we don’t have all the details we usually have the basic details by the time the previous semester ends so that way over the break we can have the calendar and events ready to go at the start of the semester.”
Would you say you’ve seen the most participation at the spring and fall fest?
"Yes, we usually have about 1,000 people at the Carnival and fireworks."
Is there an event that you do every spring that you always bring back?
“We always bring back winter fest. It looks a little different every year but it's a traditional event. Since I’ve been on CAB, it's really expanded to a full-day event with more activities vs starting off as a wing-tasting event."
Getting into Spring Fest, can you give us any sneak peeks on what we can see in the next semester?
“We have a few fun trips planned, and a couple of late-night events, it will be a really fun semester.”
Do you get a lot of engagement on the CAB Instagram?
“I think that as a whole because we're an organization planning events for the students we ensure we are planning events the student body wants to see. We put little polls or questionnaires on our Instagram from time to time to make sure that we were tailoring the events. We obviously have a range of certain events so we like to make sure our calendar has an array of certain events.”
After wrapping up this interview, it was clear that many factors come into play when deciding what events will be held, but the carnival and fireworks are an Eastern staple. I was shocked to hear that Winter Fest started off as just a wing-tasting event. it goes to show how much CAB has evolved and proved consistent consideration of the wants of the students at Eastern. The cabbies work very hard to give the community excellent and exciting events each year to achieve a school-wide goal: enjoyment for all! Make sure to stay updated on CAB events through their Instagram or flyers around the school. You don't want to miss out on these spring activities!
Comments