Graduate and professional students at the UA will have the chance to feel appreciated for their work next week.
Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week will kick off on Sunday and last until next Friday.
“We want as many awesome, rad and incredible University of Arizona graduate and professional students to come out to GPSA week and celebrate, celebrate with us and eat good food,” said Zachary Brooks, Graduate and Professional Student Council president.
The week starts with Family Fun Day at La Aldea from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. This year’s Family Fun Day is teamed up with the international student office, so the event will be larger than in years past, said Kevin Chau, GPSC events director. The event will not only include food but also face painting, henna tattoos, a bouncy castle and games.
“I think it is an excellent idea to appreciate and celebrate graduate students with different events,” said Dylan Baun, a graduate student studying Middle Eastern and North African Studies. “Personally, as a busy graduate student, I don’t know if I will attend, but I think it is a great idea.”
On Monday, “Geeks who Drink” will take place the Trident Grill from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event includes a trivia game focusing on the state of Arizona, the UA and categories specific to graduate and professional students, said Cassie Fausel, GPSC social chair and representative for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. There will be UA baseball tickets and memorabilia as prizes, Chau said.
The festivities will start to wind down on Friday with the Backyard BBQ on the Mall from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., which will provide free lunch to the first 600 graduate and professional students who attend. At the barbeque, GPSC presidential and vice presidential candidates will be given the opportunity to speak for several minutes, Chau said. The GPSC candidates have not yet been announced.
Voting for all positions will begin April 1 and run through April 5.
“I think it [GPSA Week] is a gesture of the GPSC trying to appreciate all the hard work graduate students do here,” Chau said, “and thanking them for supporting what the council does so we count this as a gesture of appreciating their presence.”
