This past Saturday, Bucknell students enjoyed the annual “Bucknell Refresh” event hosted by the Campus Activites & Programs Center as a fun and exciting way to welcome back the students, relieve the stress of a new school year, and come enjoy fun games and delicious food surrounded by friends.
While the event has become a yearly occurrence, it is also a fairly new tradition. Brent Papson, Director of Campus Activities and Student Media said, “since arriving at Bucknell, I’ve felt that we needed a large-scale event to start the year: an event where all class years can come together and hang out.”
Another large-scale event, Chrysalis, had been declining over the years and was canceled due to COVID in the spring of 2020. When campus students and faculty returned to large-scale programming in Fall 2021, the CAP Center wanted to do something big to get students excited about returning to Bucknell. The name “Bucknell Refresh” is a reference to starting a new year at Bucknell.
The CAP Center regularly seeks student feedback on food offerings, so the lineup changes every year. Papson highlighted that this year’s event wouldn’t be possible without the work from Bucknell’s Dining Services, specifically Angie Cimino, who coordinates all of the food trucks. After the budget was confirmed, Angie did all the hard work reaching out to the trucks and scheduling to ensure there were adequate food options for all students. This year, there were food trucks that served grilled cheese sandwiches, barbecue and ice cream.
The planning for this event began in May to ensure that Bucknell could secure enough food trucks during their busy season.
The CAP Center did not fare many obstacles; they prayed for good weather, and their prayers were heard. If it rained, it would have caused delays and a change of venue.
“We rely on CAP Center Core programming board and their Adviser, Courtney Ross, to come up with additional activities and set up and clean up,” Papson said. “This year, we partnered with Public Safety on the dunk tank. Of course, this event would not be possible without the Office of Events Management, Facilities, and Outdoor Education and Leadership.”
To help decide what events to organize, the CAP Center conducts a campus-wide assessment every four years, and Bucknell administers the MyVoice survey every four years. They also base decisions on student turnout and feedback following the events. CAP Center Core students help with the feedback and planning process.
Papson said, “Bucknell Refresh is a place to get great food and hang out with friends. We create an environment, and the students create an event.”
According to the CAP Center, students have been asking for more frequent large-scale events. On Sept. 9 at 4 p.m., the pop rock band COIN will be playing on the football practice field, followed by the football home opener. A few weeks later, the Fall Fest carnival on Saturday,. Sept. 30 will have free carnival rides, games and food.
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, Lectureship Committee is bringing Rainn Wilson, Dwight Schrute from “The Office,” for a moderated discussion and open Q&A. On Friday, Nov. 3, Joe Gatto of “Impractical Jokers” is performing at Core’s Center Stage event in Sojka Pavilion.
“That gives students a large-scale program every 2-3 weeks while on campus. It’s a lot of work, and extra hours on our staff and our campus colleagues who help us put on these events. We hope that they positively impact the student experience,” said Papson.
