Co-chairs Isabelle Luevano and Robert Cook on the Wild West Charity Week theme
The weather is cooling down, leaves are turning different colors and pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks. At the University of Dallas, all of these clues lead to the conclusion that Charity Week is approaching.
Renowned as one of UD’s best traditions, Charity Week is filled with events like Chaos, Powder Puff, the Jail, Tuck-Ins, Male Auction and many more, all centered around an overarching theme.
This year’s Charity Week co-chairs, Isabelle Luevano, junior business major, and Robert Cook, junior history major, chose a Wild West theme. When asked why they chose this, Luevano said, “The main thing is that we wanted to unite everybody. Everybody has a cowboy hat or can find boots, and that way, all the classes will be included.”
Cook said, “[Last year’s co-chairs] recommended doing something that everyone can really participate in, something that’s a little bit more general, so there can be more involvement on campus.”
Per Charity Week style, the events and campus will correspond to the theme. Cook and Luevano already have ambitions to turn the restrooms into outhouses and the Capp Bar into a saloon – and that’s not all.
“We are trying to get a mechanical bull and potential professor showdowns, and I think [Student Foundations] also wants to do a boot shine,” said Cook.
According to Luevano, there is also an extra event in the works, one that is possibly in collaboration with SSJ.
Last year’s Medieval Charity Week went down in the books as being one of the best Charity Weeks in UD lore. In one of his weekly emails Dr. Gregory Roper, dean of students, said “Many professors have come up to me and said they had the most fun this year of any Charity Week they can remember.”
When asked whether this year’s Charity Week will live up to its predecessor, Cook said, “It’s always hard to follow something up whenever the bar is set really high, but in talking to Isabelle and working with Moey and just in talking to people around campus, I’m excited to meet that standard and potentially exceed [it].”
Luevano isn’t scared of a challenge either. “I’m very confident,” she said. “Also, what helped us with our little announcement, we had a little bit of a larger group show out. So I’m hoping that sets the tone of this year’s Charity Week.”
Luckily for Cook and Luevano, the response from the student body has been overwhelmingly positive.
Jacinta Gonzalez, junior politics major, said, “I’m really excited for the theme. I think we’re going to have a great time this year, and Isabelle and Robert are going to do an amazing job for our class.”
Paulina Gomez, junior English major, is also looking forward to the Wild West theme. She said, “I really like the Charity Week theme because I think that there’s a lot you can do with it. It’s not too broad, but it’s broad enough where everyone can take it and apply it in great, fun ways throughout the week.”
Since this is the first time all the Juniors are back together after being separated during Rome, Cook and Luevano believe that this week will unite the class.
“Hopefully, this brings us all together and we’re able to all hang out and have fun,” said Luevano.
“Whether or not people went to Rome, and I don’t like the term ‘bridging the gap,’ but you do get really close with the people that you’re around,” said Cook. “So I think the effect on the junior class will just be having a project for the class as a whole, to all get behind and come together.”
Most of all, Isabelle and Robert want everyone to have fun.
Luevano said, “We’re just very excited and I hope that everyone has as much fun as we have planning it.”