Molly Welch, Vice President of programming for Marquette Student Government, and senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, has spent weeks with the rest of the group to plan this year’s MUSG sponsored homecoming events.
Q: What do you do as VP of Programming for MUSG?
A: I work with a team of four program coordinators, and we work with coordinating the speaker series. We work with late night events and do excursions and a lot of other events, (both) on campus and off.
Q: What have you worked on for homecoming?
A: MUSG contributes two events. This year it is the “Marquette’s Got Talent” event and the Late Night Breakfast. We work as a team. My program coordinators, Madison Hicks and Paige Hunt, have taken lead on “Marquette’s Got Talent” … and I’ve been helping them with all of that. I basically manage the team in general and help them with anything they need.
Q: What have you done specifically for Marquette’s Got Talent?
A: We first publicize that it’s taking place, and Provost Meyers will be emceeing with a student. We reached out to all of the groups and student performers that were in it last year. Once we hear back from a large sum of groups, we have to go through a screening process. It’s not an audition or anything. It’s just to make sure we know what’s going on and know what everyone’s doing and also get tech needs, which includes what they would like from the audio to the visual and how many mics you need. If you have an a cappella group, you need at least three handheld mics, if not more. From there, you can make a general lineup of the night, but you also need to make a rehearsal time lineup. You have to get the tech needs to the companies and schedule when they’re going to come in and load in.
Q: Do you have a favorite Marquette’s Got Talent act?
A: Honestly, no. It’s a diverse range of acts this year, as it was last year, and that’s what makes it a great event. I think it has to do with how we publicize it and how we reach out to such large groups of people. Our student body does have a lot of different talents. You can have Irish step dancing, someone rapping and see a comedian all in the same event. We have a talented student body. I don’t have a favorite because they are all so different.
Q: What differences have you seen between last year’s Homecoming and this year’s event?
A: They’ve asked for a lot more student input this year which I think is a great improvement, as a student. Obviously, last year was their first year so there are always places to go, and I think they really have improved. They had two student interns this year, and they also had a steering committee with a bunch of different student leaders on it. It really helped create a better vision for homecoming this year. It’s one that is steered with the wants and needs with alumni that are coming back to campus this week with the wants and needs of students on campus. Both are important.
Q: What’s a challenge you’ve faced during the planning stages of homecoming?
A: It’s very hard to work with all of the moving pieces. With … an event like “Marquette’s Got Talent,” you’ve gotta (sic) work with the homecoming committee, but then you have to relay the messages back to all different acts. Communication itself takes a while, and homecoming is very early on in the school year, so you don’t have a while.
Q: What’s been the most rewarding part of this experience?
A: Really seeing how hard everyone is working. The students who work with homecoming, they’ve been working incredibly hard, and they’ve been doing a great job. Also, my program coordinators have been working so hard to get all of this together, and that’s really rewarding. I know during the days that all of this is happening, they’ll be able to see those events take place, and it’ll feel great for them.
