100s night takes a different approach

After watching one of the best hockey games at Norwich, in which Norwich tied Middlebury 4 to 4 in overtime, many seniors left the game excited as they headed to another event planned for that evening.

When Stephen Webber arrived at the second event he was amazed at the setup. 

"It's a good chance for us to get together and have fun with our class, said the 21-year-old, a senior studies of war and peace major form Kittery, Maine.

The senior class celebrated its hundredth night on Feb. 4 in the rook dining room, in the form of a postgame party.

 "We did it differently this year; instead of a nice formal dinner we did an after-hockey game party and it turned out nice. I think the seniors really enjoyed it," said Cathleen Mallette, 22, a senior psychology major from Ticonderoga, N.Y.

The idea of the event is to start the final countdown for the senior class as it gets closer to graduation.

"100's night is an event for graduating seniors that celebrates 100 days left until commencement," said Hilary R. Davis, director of class relations at Norwich. "We hold 100's night as recognition and congratulations to the seniors for the hard work put in the past three and half years at NU."

At the event there were cocktails and each senior got a token for a free beverage.  There was also a DJ, provided by Norwich senior Josh Flanders. 

Also attending were Richard Schneider, Norwich president; Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, class of 1959, chairman of the board of trustees, USA (Ret.); Mark Kisiel, class of 1959, member of the board of trustees; Ed O'Brien, class of 1959; and Tom Decker, class of 1959, according to Davis.

Paul Bova, class of 1988, was the guest speaker. He introduced the idea of the class gift, and giving back to the school as alumni.

"The alumni invest in the university as a way to show appreciation, support, and most of all show that they value their Norwich degree, and want Norwich to continue to succeed. The senior class gift allows the students of the senior class to do the same, give back to their soon-to-be alma mater, and increase the value of the degree that they hold from a great institution," said Davis. "Anyone who financially supports the university has the ability to designate their gift to an area of the university that they wish to positively impact, which helps to make it that much more meaningful to each individual."

The event was planned and coordinated by the student alumni association.

Seniors who want to donate to the class gift can do so at a table set up in Wise Campus Center in the coming weeks, according to Mallette.