Last Friday, Student Ambassadors, faculty, staff, and students from other campus groups (including tour guides and the HOPE Hall residence) met at the Miller fountain to participate in filming the promotional video for the upcoming Duckapalooza event in late February.

The event was started last year on campus as a way to engage students in giving back to Trinity. This year, Duckapalooza will be on the National Student Engagement in Philanthropy Day. All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to give in honor of another person at Trinity.

“Duckapalooza gives students opportunities to “˜duck’ someone, where they give money to Trinity in their  honor. The person who has been ducked can then pick up an orange and black striped rubber duck,” said Lauren Krummel, junior and Student Ambassador.

The duck theme may seem random, but students say there is more sense to it than what is apparent at first glance.

“The ducks are a play on the water features that we have all over campus. We would like to continue the theme in years to come,” said senior Katie Ogawa.

Trinity is part of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) that is the sponsor for Trinity Student Ambassadors. Through these entities, Duckapalooza was thought up as a way to expand upon the faculty, staff and senior giving programs already in place. Duckapalooza aims to encourage any and all students to give back to Trinity.

“CASE is responsible for creating National Student Engagement in Philanthropy Day that schools all over will be participating in. Schools do many different things: some do a pay-it-forward event or defrost windshields. We decided to emphasize the importance of students giving back to student scholarships and preparing current students to being future alumni,” said Cynthia Uviedo, Assistant Director of Stewardship.

The payroll reductions of faculty and staff that go back into student scholarships and current seniors giving $20.14 to climb the tower are  two examples of long-standing giving initiatives that don’t involve the bulk of Trinity students. The purpose of Duckapalooza is to engage students of every year to give back to their communities.

“The goal of Duckapalooza is to promote philanthropy and the importance of giving back to the community in which you live. We are trying to encourage students to give,” Ogawa said.

Every small donation counts. A minimum of five dollars is needed in order to duck someone.