Fireworks were set off for the first time on Trinity’s campus this past Saturday, Feb. 21, at the CSI grand opening student party. The party was the final event, concluding the official two-day opening of the newly constructed building.
Students wore semi-formal attire and gathered in the CSI atrium to commemorate the occasion.
Light food and refreshments were offered, as well as two alcoholic beverages each for students 21 and over. The Trinity Jazz Band performed live music in the “innovation cube” for students to listen and dance to.
Senior Breanna Willis and two of her friends who graduated from UTSA stopped by the party on their way to the slam poetry event on campus.
“It’s nice to celebrate the opening of CSI finally being completed with my fellow peers,” Willis said. “I like the fact that they strongly encouraged students to come and are catering it to the students because that makes it different from just another grand opening.”
Junior Alexis Maiella attended the party with her friends as well.
“I think it’s great because we have never really had a grand opening and it’s nice to go all out,” Maiella said. “I also really wanted to see the fireworks because you don’t get to see that everyday, and I thought that’d be really cool.”
The student party was planned by junior Katie Payne, a member of the SGA president’s council, a committee made up of several SGA senators.
Payne contacted the fireworks company and worked with risk management to handle the safety precautions necessary in order to have fireworks shot from campus.
“We wanted to have some kind of grand finale, and I thought fireworks would be easy, but it took a lot of work and meetings,” Payne said. “We thought about having circus performers or a light show, but fireworks were safer and less expensive.”
Overall, Payne felt that the CSI student party was quite successful.
“Everyone I talked to said they were having fun, and the fireworks were really good,” Payne said. “Nothing caught on fire, so that was a success for me, but just the fact that it happened and everyone seemed to have fun and enjoy themselves made it successful, too.”
Junior Andrew Robertson thought the party was a great idea, even though the building has been completed for a while.
“Despite the fact that it’s kind of late in the semester, I think it’s really great,” Robertson said. “I think that it’s important to recognize the fact that this building””which has been a pretty long construction project””is completed and that it’s officially ready for the students to utilize.”
