The annual Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino senior trip that previously occurred in the fall semester of 2014 has been pushed for this year’s senior class to the spring semester. The trip to the Uncasville, Connecticut casino will happen on Feb. 20.
Some seniors reported confusion over whether or not the annual trip to Mohegan Sun would be happening this year due to a lack of information being advertised.
“I know they’ve done it in the past, but I didn’t think they were doing it this year, because they didn’t send anything out,” said Molly Camp ’16.
Senior Julia Aparicio shared this sentiment. “I know there was one last year … but I didn’t see any emails, and I check my email a lot, but maybe I missed it.”
“I already have plans for that weekend,” Aparicio added, “but maybe I wouldn’t if I’d heard about it.”
Senior Melissa Ganley also agreed. She commented, “No one really knew about it until today [Feb. 8], and it is in less than two weeks.”
“It’s too last minute, and I’d rather spend money on other things,” she replied when asked if she would be attending.
The trip, which was advertised to seniors in an email on Feb. 8, had not been advertised prior to this date, causing confusion.
Class of 2016 Programming Co-Chair Margaret Liguori, who organized the event with Juliana Killip ‘16, explained the miscommunication.
“We had wanted to plan this trip coming into first semester as it is a senior tradition,” Liguori said. “We aimed for November but it was not possible to get done so we changed it to February. When we got back this semester and began to organize and actually book something, we were asked to consider how this trip aligns with University values and policies and told that we technically cannot sponsor a trip that constitutes gambling.”
“We certainly hit some major roadblocks that almost derailed us completely,” she added.
However, after much discussion with their advisors, Liguori and Killip were able to schedule the trip after all.
“We determined that, as long as we did not expressly advertise the gambling aspect, we would not be violating policies and going against the mission of the University and we would be able to continue this tradition,” Liguori stated.
Killip added, “This trip is about enjoying the last semester with your friends and being a part of a great tradition. We know that gambling is a part of the trip; however, we are not promoting it. We encourage everyone to have a good time and take part in all that Mohegan has to offer.”
Senior Shamel Guzman wished that information about the trip was communicated earlier to the seniors.
When asked if she would be attending, Guzman commented, “Probably not. I’m not even sure. Do we have to pay for it? Do we have to RSVP? They didn’t tell us anything.”
Liguori admitted that informing the senior class on updates about the trip could have been handled better.
“We did fail in this category,” she commented. “We had initially emailed the senior class at the beginning of the fall semester to ask them about November dates and then emailed them again to say we had to move it to spring semester. I can’t remember if we advertised that we had picked a February date, but we definitely should have done better to keep the whole class in the loop.”
Liguori wants seniors to know that they must be at least 21 years of age to purchase a bus ticket. Buses will depart from the Barone Campus Center Traffic Circle and Veteran’s Park at 5:30 p.m. and will depart from Mohegan Sun at 12:30 a.m., according to the email sent to seniors.
The price of the trip is $20, which includes a $10 casino voucher and $15 for food/retail and transportation.
Students can purchase tickets through a link on the email sent out.
“FUSA, Margaret and I want this to be a memorable trip,” Killip concluded. “We want our class to remember this event and get excited for it.”
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