The sound of chats, laughs and construction paper filled the UCA Student-Center-air as love letters were written and bouquets were assembled in the Student Center.
The Student Staff Network and the Feminist Union collaborated together in excellence to make a Galentine’s inspired event titled “Petals and Letters” for UCA students to get involved and celebrate self-love.
“We didn’t really have much last semester so this semester we are really trying to do cool stuff. We have a brand new executive board that we want to do stuff for Women’s History month and just plan more events,” Lilly Durham, the President of UCA’s Feminist Union, said.
Valentines themed cookies and candies were laid out for attendees and they could enjoy the treats as they wrote and created Valentines cards or made bouquets wrapped in ribbons and paper.
Olivia Smith, UCA student, said that she was browsing Cub Connect looking for events and stumbled upon this one.
Smith said that she was happy that she attended this event and all the many ways to get involved at UCA.
She was joined by fellow UCA student, Eva Benson, who made a bouquet and wrote letters alongside Smith.
Attendees were seated at tables that housed colorful paper, glue sticks, scissors and markers as well as assortments of fake flowers and various kinds of ribbon.
Students moved around and chatted with fellow attendees as they glued, cut and wrote.
Tymera Marsh, President of the Student Staff Network, explained the work that not only led up to this event but also her role as a president and a little bit about the collaborative efforts that went into this Galentine’s event.
“This is the first year SSN has hosted events and when I was previous president last semester, I just sent out the newsletter. Lily (Durham) joined SSN this year, she’s my new vice president, and mentioned wanting to do events,” Marsh said.
Marsh said that through collaboration, the two organizations are attempting to make more creative and exciting events to host on campus for students to attend, and not only meet others but have fun outlets throughout the semester.
“My role is really to just bridge the gap between campus resources and connect student workers with things that can help them in the long term,” Marsh said.
The collectivity and warmth conjured from this event filled the room as attendees met and crafted pieces together.
As people filtered in and out of the room more conversations flowed and the Galentine’s festivities ensued.
“We want to build a community first and so that’s what we’re trying to do while collaborating and hosting more fun events this year,” Marsh said.
Feminist Union Executive member, Marlie Dedmon, said that new events were in the works for this organization.
UCA students of any gender or background can get excited for what’s up and coming from the Feminist Union and experience creative and unique ways to have fun while being a UCA Bear.
Follow @ucafeministunion and @uca_studentstaffnetwork on Instagram to stay informed about what each organization has going on in the future and what you can expect from future collaboration events.
