Op-Ed: SUNY Niagara Should Have a Presidential Inauguration Every Year 

By Brandon Davis  

For a week SUNY Niagara was filled with life, events were taking place in every single department throughout the week. One day a poetry reading, another day an art exhibit or a theatre production. Throughout my two years at SUNY Niagara, I had never seen the school so alive. That isn’t to say that nothing happens at the school, far from it actually, but for this week the school was bustling with activity. So, this begs the question: why don’t we do this every year? 

In an earlier article about the creative writing club (LINK) the inherent issue of two-year schools and student life was raised. By the time that many students feel comfortable enough to participate, organize events, or join clubs on campus, they are already gearing up to leave or transfer to a four-year school. Therefore, the inauguration has provided an excellent framework for making student life livelier. By having each department organize their own events for a semester or for a special occasion, like the presidential inauguration, it takes the burden of reaching out to possible participants off of students who may not feel comfortable or integrated enough within the school’s community to do so.  

 Another upside to this scheme is that it could attract much more outside attention. Maybe a few people who are not students or family of students will come to a musical or to a an art gallery, but if on the same day there is an art gallery, musical, dinner from NFCI students and a basketball game, then  it wouldn’t be hard to imagine people from outside the school’s community stopping in to see what all the hub-bub is about. By consolidating many of these events into a few days or over one week it also allows students, instructors, family, and friends, to plan ahead to join the fun. Obviously, this shouldn’t be marketed as a presidential inauguration every year, that was hyperbole, but it should roughly follow the same framework. Lots of events over a few days with plenty of notice beforehand. It could be something like a “SUNY Niagara spirit week”. There could be a contest for what to call this yet to be named week of fun.  

This isn’t just about student life though, an event like this could serve as an excellent way to sell the school to potential students. Of course, SUNY Niagara already has a reputation for quality of education, facilities, and affordability, but if students saw that the student life was also extremely active then it would be a no brainer pick for many. An event like this could also be somewhat lucrative through selling tickets to the theatre production, a dinner, or a sports event. By consolidating all of these things into a single day or through a couple days in a week it also increases the chance that someone who is only here attending one event decides to check out another while they are already here therefore increasing general attendance of all the events.  

I don’t work in marketing, and I am certainly not part of any school administration, but the success of the way that the presidential inauguration was structured presents a lightning in the bottle moment for any savvy administrators who want to liven things up around here a little bit. Take the advice or leave it, but to organize such a successful event and then fail to capitalize on its successes would be a wasted opportunity.