It’s the most wonderful of the year! No, I am not talking about wintertime or Christmas; I am talking about one of the greatest events ever put on by the Student Activities Board (SAB)…the Spring Banquet!
This special occasion takes place annually during the spring season, so the weather is bound to be amazing for this upcoming event! For many students here at Eastern, Spring Banquet serves as a another prom, but on a collegiate level. This is a great time for those who perhaps were unable to attend their own prom to be able to experience a night where they can dress fancy and dance the night away with their friends.
SAB members have planned to have this year’s banquet on the Spirit of Philadelphia, which is a fancy yacht located in Penn’s Landing. The yacht is famous for having all types of occasions held on its platform: birthdays, anniversaries, college banquets and much more!
The yacht will be in motion as EU students party and enjoy the scenic views that Philadelphia has to offer. Past Eastern spring banquets have taken place at other monumental locations, such as the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Glen Foerd Mansion and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. With illustrious locations such as these, you can be rest assured that SAB is going to your rock your world with this year’s event.
Last year’s Spring Banquet took place at King Mills and for many, it was a night to remember, which is what SAB had hoped the night would accomplish. It is all due to the overall theme for the event being Tale as Old as Time. The night was meant to be experienced as a fairytale, which is why when advertising for the event, SAB wrote, “Love a good story? Come out to Spring Banquet and have your own fairy tale night with food, dancing, and friends…”
While I did not go last year, I got to live vicariously through the photos and Instagram stories of my friends, one of them being Maya Hawkins. Hawkins attended the banquet and said that the event itself, “takes you back to high school.” She got the chance to revisit the excitement that her own prom brought her during her time in high school. She loved getting dressed up for the banquet and being able to enjoy the night with those closest to her. She thoroughly enjoyed the music that the DJ played and the food as well. She took a lot pictures in the photo booth as a way of capturing one of the best nights of her life.
Shavon Wilson and Olivia Smith were also in attendance last year and they both had a good time.
“I thought it was a fun time to be able to step out of the normal everyday flow of things and spend some needed time with my friends,” Smith said.
“It was great. It was a moment that I realized that when we hit spring we were going into another phase which was going to be our fall semester as upperclassmen,” Wilson said.
While banquets tend to be more formal and elegant, SAB, being the exuberant group they are, planned fun interactive games for guests to participate in. One of the activities included students getting caricatures made of themselves! The games brought to many of the attendees joy and laughter and it goes to show that all of SAB’s hard work and preparation produced great fruit.
To some students, the Spring Banquet is a result of the significant events SAB has planned over the course of the year, such as the Homecoming dance. The dance gives students just a taste of what to expect for Spring Banquet. SAB is looking forward to this upcoming event as they have increasingly encouraged students to attend this auspicious occasion through their $30 Flash Sale and social media updates. After the sale, prices went up to $40 this past week. Several different members of SAB welcomed students with smiling and encouraging faces as they persuaded people to buy tickets.
For those who, like me, will be attending this year’s banquet, get ready to experience a night of fun, food, and creating great memories with friends. For those who are looking to go, you can still purchase tickets online at bit.ly/eubanquet . Hope to see you there!
Source: @sabeastern Twitter
Katherine Thomas 
Will Cunningham 
Lenora Kirkland