By Dessa Bayrock (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: September 19, 2012
What do you call a barbecue when there is no barbecue?
This was the question Student Life struggled with this year at their annual welcome back barbecue. Although this year’s event had the same tents, booths and apple-bobbing spread across the Abbotsford green, the tables of condiments and the smell of grilling meat were notably absent.
Martin Kelly, a programmer at Student Life, said the number of student drawn to the event was approximately halved in comparison to past barbecues.
The numbers were down at the events in both Abbotsford and Chilliwack,” Kelly stated, noting that about 1000 students came through the Abbotsford event, in contrast to 2500-3000 in years where food was offered.
“The barbecue was prohibitively expensive, and we couldn’t afford it,” Kelly explained, “so we’re moving in another direction.”
The only food on site was one grill’s worth of corn provided by the Louden Singletree, and hot dogs carried tray by tray from AfterMath by Student Union Society (SUS) representatives.
Although Student Life could theoretically offset the cost of the barbecue by charging for the food, Kelly said a key part of the event is the fact that it’s free.
“The welcome-backs have always been free,” Kelly explained. “It was a community builder to get students to come.”
Other than corn, the only food present on the green was in the form of SUS-supplied hot dogs, which were a last-minute addition to the plan.
“Martin came to us [and said], ‘Oh, dear God – we have no barbecue,” explained SUS’ Vice-President Social, Chris Doyle. “And we said, well, we can’t cater, because that’s one thing that Sodexo has the exclusive right to do. And we can’t really provide food, because we haven’t had time to ask or prepare paperwork.”
SUS’ solution was to give away 375 hot dogs, tray by tray rather than grill by grill. Doyle notes that they didn’t “give out enough to feed every single person,” but enough to argue that the food giveaways were an avenue to push to new hot dog brand served at AfterMath.
In the future, Kelly and Doyle predict that SUS and Student Life will work together to bring the event to life.
“I envision the day when SUS is going to be a partner in this, instead of just a participant,” Kelly said. “It makes sense to me that SUS develop to the point where they’re happy and capable of taking this event on.”
Meanwhile, Kelly said that some reorganization will be necessary for the annual event in the future. Perhaps the most immediate problem, Kelly noted, will be creating a new title for the event, since it can no longer be described as a barbecue.
Jody Gordon, UFV’s new Vice-President Students, said that Student Life’s funding crunch is indicative of deeper financial cuts within UFV as an institution.
“My understanding is that it was a temporary fund cobbled together to put the barbecue on [in the past],” Gordon explains. “Most post-secondary institutions in BC have not received increases to their funding. It makes it hard to find temporary money to fund events like the barbecue.”
Doug Fowler, General Manger of Food Services at UFV, stated that Sodexo had no contact with Student Life and was never asked for a quote on what it would cost to have Sodexo cater the event.
