Any student who has been to a Whitman-sponsored event probably has the Campus Activities Board (CAB) to thank.
CAB is the largest volunteer group on campus that puts on programs for the Whitman student body. These programs include movies, dances, musical performances and other forms of entertainment. CAB also does a good deal of co-sponsorship with other groups on campus, providing programming knowledge as well as volunteers for advertising, set-up, participation and clean-up.
On Tuesday, Sept. 18, CAB brought mentalist Craig Karges to Whitman. On Saturday, Sept. 22, CAB will be showing “The Incredibles” and “Dr. Strangelove” on the Reid side lawn as part of their once-a-semester drive-in movie event.
Like all of CAB’s programs, the drive-in movies are free of charge to the Whitman student body, including complimentary popcorn and cotton candy. This event is free for all community members as well.
“The Incredibles” will be shown first, at dusk, so that attendees and community members with children can enjoy the earlier show. The two movies were chosen as part of an “End of the World” theme, and are also on the “Top 10 Movies” lists for Whitman students, based on Facebook statistics.
The programs that CAB puts on aim to provide fun, free entertainment to all students.
“CAB offers alternatives events to just drinking on a weekend, and it’s open to the entire campus and put on by their peers,” said Nights and Weekends Chair, sophomore Nadim Damluji.
“We’re really trying to open ourselves up this year to be more receptive to people who fill out request forms,” Damluji said. “CAB is completely volunteer-based, and that’s the reason why I think it’s such a great group. It shows that the students are really committed to making things happen on this campus.”
“You don’t have to go through a lot of the bureaucracy of ASWC, and it’s not a paid position, so you can give as much or as little as you want,” said CAB Vice Chair, junior Tom Bugert.
Bugert, along with other CAB members, choose to “put in a lot,” spending time planning the events, as well as devoting their weekends to helping prepare for them and set them up.
Board members encourage students who have ideas to be a part of the club.
“It’s a completely campus-decided committee,” said CAB Marketing Chair, junior Katie Phelps. “Even though we have executives, everybody votes as a group. So if you’re a student who wants to bring a specific event or speaker or film festival, you can show up at a CAB meeting and make it happen.”
All interested students are invited to attend CAB meetings, which take place Wednesdays at noon in Room G02 in Reid Campus Center’s basement. Phelps pointed out that students can have give their input on upcoming events, such as the Cobweb Ball that CAB is sponsoring with the Fine Arts House in October, or the visit from top 10 finalists in the National Comedy Competition that are coming to campus in November.
