There has been much discussion around campus lately pertaining to the D’Lion Organization. D’Lion Week took place from Feb. 9-16, culminating with a show on Friday night, called The Show, which took place in Strong Auditorium to celebrate the D’Lions 50th anniversary. Even after the week has ended, the topic of D’Lions is still one of great interest by students, faculty and the administration at UR.
President of D’Lions and sophomore Benjamin Pollack spoke about the anniversary. “It’s been a great 50 years, and we want to continue being successful in all of the programs we run and maintaining our mission of supporting freshman activities and school spirit on campus,” he said.
Friday’s show featured performance groups such as the Midnight Ramblers, UR Bhangra, Vocal Point, Ballet Performance Group and In Between the Lines Improv Comedy Troupe.
“Going into it, we thought the hardest part of the show would be to get such a great roster of performers,” Pollack said. “However, it turned out to be one of the easiest parts. The groups jumped at the opportunity to perform in the show and recognize the D’Lions.” This may be proof of just how important of a role the D’Lions play on River Campus, even to upperclassmen.
Pollack continued on to speak about how he felt to be President of the D’Lions.
“It’s truly an honor to serve as President,” Pollack said. “We are 59 D’Lions strong, and they are an amazing group of creative individuals who go above and beyond at everything they do. I am proud and honored to work with such a great group of people.”
Pollack also touched upon what it meant to be a D’Lion.
“As a D’Lion, it is your goal to help spread school spirit, and to get the freshmen actively involved in school activities, while introducing them to a fun and exciting freshman experience,” he said. “Being a D’Lion also means being a role model, both on the hall and in the campus community. The D’Lions are very active on campus and are strongly involved in community service activities. We do our best to share that passion for community service with the freshmen and our peers on campus.”
When asked to expand upon the goals he had before taking on the role as President of the D’Lions, Pollack echoed his words from before.
“Going into the role of President, I wanted to continue the tradition of helping to promote school spirit on campus,” he said. “I also wanted to strengthen the goals of the D’Lions not only on the hall, but on campus as well. As always, D’Lions are known to plan exciting events on campus, and I really wanted to continue doing this.”
The D’Lions have been working since October to plan The Show. Currently, they have a Soda Pop Tab Program, where the metal tabs on top of soda cans are going to be donated to the Ronald McDonald House. They will also be sponsoring the flower sales at Commencement in May.
“Stuff just kind of comes up day by day,” Pollack said.
UR President Joel Seligman and Vice President and General Secretary Paul Burgett also took part in celebrating the D’Lions 50th anniverary.
“They have been wonderful supporters of the D’Lions in the celebration of their 50th anniversary,” Pollack said. “It was a great feeling to see that the President and Vice President were so enthused about student activities and supportive of the important roles that students play on campus.”
Pollack also commented on the attention D’Lions have been recieving from administration.
“It was a great honor that President Seligman and Vice President Burgett took time to recognize us in a special way with a special Proclamation honoring us. We could not have been any happier with how they helped us celebrate this incredible milestone. None of the events surrounding the show would have been possible without the amazing support of our wonderful advisor, Jocelyn Shope,” he said.
Residential Life Area Coordinator and sophomore Committee member Jocelyn Shope is in her second year at the University.
When asked if she has seen the D’Lion program improve during her time here she said that “every year the D’Lions do an amazing job… this year, we are getting more recognition because of the anniversary.”
Shope also touched upon D’Lion Week, echoing Pollack’s words. “The whole D’Lion Week has been amazing,” she said. “Everyone pulled together and followed through. I am very proud.”
Like Pollack, Shope thought The Show went well.
“The goal was to have fun, and we did,” she said.
Wisch is a member of the class of 2011.
