Students’ Union looks down at peasants below at Pack the Jack
By Derek Baker, January 17 2017 —
Of the 1,881 fans who Packed the Jack for this year’s annual basketball classic, a notable few were also in the crowd. Or rather, they sat above it.
Executives and representatives from the University of Calgary Students’ Union showed their support for the Dinos this year by viewing the game from box seats.
“I guess it’s just a perk that comes along with the job,” SU vice president external Tristan Bray said.
They’re not above you. They’re just above you. // Photo by Justin Quaintance
Watching pompously over the gym in their box, SU members graciously waved at the swath of indifferent students in the bleachers below before taking their seats, channelling the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
“I guess it’s pretty sweet — but trust me, we’re just like you,” SU president Stephan Guscott said while dipping fruit in a chocolate fondue fountain.
As part of the job, elected officials thoughtfully engage with students and report weekly to the council on what they have been doing to represent their faculty’s students. Many felt attending Pack the Jack in the box provided a faultless approach to student engagement.
“You know, being a student representative is all about engaging with the students, student engagement and making the students feel they are engaged,” Guscott said.
With murmurs of agreement from the faculty representatives, several quickly jotted down attending Pack the Jack in the box as evidence of student engagement to present at the next Student’s Legislative Council for their weekly reporting.
“It’s important that U of C students see their representatives attend events like this to show that we’re really just everyday students,” Bray said while being fed a grape by an SU intern. “We want to dispel any sense of elitism the SU may emanate — we’re just like you.”
Luckily, possible misconstructions of SU elitism from watching the basketball games in their box seats likely remained unnoticed. Second-year biology student Bernie Bergman appeared puzzled when the members’ attendance was pointed out.
“Wait, who the hell are they again?” Bergman said.
This article is part of our humour section.