Fall 2015 Semester Recap
January 16, 2015
2016 is nearly here, but that doesn’t mean we’ve already moved on from 2015. In fact, we want to dwell in the past for just a bit longer as we recap all of the excitement from the fall semester. From Fall Welcome Week and Block Party all the way through Christmas Coffeehouse, the events of the fall 2015 semester will be tough to top. Let’s remember some of the highlights together, shall we?
Concerts/Performers
One of our goals here at Student Activities is to bring in excellent musicians and performers every semester, and this fall exceeded all of our expectations in that regard. Our concert lineup was one of the most stylistically diverse we’ve ever had, a great mix of established names and rising stars. Our largest-attended Block Party yet (8,000+) set the tone for the semester as it featured Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors and Johnnyswim. (We loved the music, but we might love it just a little more that it didn’t rain that day.) CFAW concerts this fall were about as big as it gets in CCM, as Tenth Avenue North and Sidewalk Prophets led the way for our concert in September, and Andy Mineo, JGivens, and Propaganda nearly (more like actually) brought the house down in the TRBC auditorium in November. Additionally, we added some great flavor to our calendar with our LaHaye Event Space shows, featuring Thrice lead singer Dustin Kensrue in September, The REDvolution tour featuring Red, Tedashii, Capital Kings, and Wolves at the Gate in October, and The Oh Hellos in November. Then to top it all off, we ended the school year with another mind-blowing performance from Justin Flom.
Movie Nights
Our Movie Nights for the fall semester featured some of the most popular movies of the year, but it was our Documentary Film Night in September that stands out as one of our favorite movie nights of the year. It featured the powerful, beautiful film The Drop Box and was the first time we integrated academics into one of our events (via the Psychology Department). The event counted as an approved activity, allowing Psych students to get course credit to attend the film. We also established a partnership with the Liberty Godparent Home and Family Life Services Adoption Agency for the event. Nearly 400 students were there, making it one of our best attended Documentary Film Nights to date.
Outdoor Rec/Trips
Our Outdoor Events expanded to include a wider variety of available trips, from our camping and hiking trips, to whitewater rafting and rock climbing trips, and even a beach camping trip in Virginia Beach. Our Liberty Mountain Trail Series for fall 2015 had 31 people complete all 3 races (Deep Hollow, Valley View, Reindeer Run), the highest total of series finishers in LMTS history. But of all our Outdoor Recreation additions or accomplishments, the Mike Donahue plaque and trail dedication was one of the proudest moments in our department’s history. In addition to his sacrifice in his military service, Major Donahue contributed to the life of the university through ROTC, the running community in Lynchburg, and to the trail races here in our department. We are proud to be able to contribute to his memory and legacy through his memorial on the mountain.
Christmas Coffeehouse
Our last event of the year is always our favorite. This year’s Christmas Coffeehouse was not just the biggest Christmas Coffeehouse we’ve ever had, it was by far the biggest Coffeehouse of any kind we’ve ever had. Over 8,200 tickets were sold for the show, which was subtitled Fa La La La La. Every show, we hear students talk about how talented the Liberty student body is, and we could not agree more. We’re not sure how we’ll top this one for the spring, but we’re sure going to try.
The fall semester had nearly 70 events and recreational activities for you, and the spring will be just about as busy. Be sure to find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all the latest information about everything that’s going on. Have a great Christmas break, and we’ll see you at our events in 2016!