GDMA grads swap cupcakes for beer

The Graphic Design for Marketing program is once again raising funds for the 2010 GDMA grad show, and this time beer is on the menu.

The GDMA will host a Pub Night at Hudson’s Landing Pub on Southwest Marine Drive on Friday, Nov. 13.

Tickets are $15, and include admission, a burger and a beer.

Vanessa Klassen, chair of the GDMA grad class, hopes to raise $1,000 at the pub night, as well as host a good night out for Kwantlen students.

“It gives people a social opportunity, a chance to mingle and chat,” said Klassen.

GDMA grads have been busy selling everything from cupcakes to T-shirts and graphic agendas this year. They also hosted the fourth annual Halloween costume contest, which took place on Oct. 29 at the Richmond campus.

Proceeds from their fund-raising will go towards a week-long exhibition at Kwantlen that will showcase the grads’ work. They will also be throwing a party in Vancouver where the design industry professsionals will get a chance to see the work of the Kwantlen students.

The GDMA grads are planning for another pub night on Dec. 10 at Ceili’s Irish Pub in downtown Vancouver.

For more information about the GDMA pub night check out their blog.

Pubs nights first step toward Kwantlen campus pub

The fall semester brings Kwantlen students a new status as a university, a new president and along with that, approval for a pub night.

The Kwantlen Student Association approached the school’s new president, Dr. David W. Atkinson, about creating a pub on campus soon after he arrived last July, said Nathan Griffiths, Director of Operations for the KSA. Atkinson was on-board with the idea and suggested starting with a pub night, as opposed to a fully licensed pub. Although the KSA is interested in creating pub nights on all campuses, Surrey is the only campus that currently has space to do so, Griffiths said.

Pub nights will be held Fridays in the Grassroots Lounge on the Surrey campus. “There are still finer details to work out with administration,” said Griffiths, adding that the KSA plans to focus on this project after CramJam is finished.

Griffiths says that the KSA has a “gentleman’s agreement” with Atkinson to aim to have a fully-licensed pub in one year.

“Campus pubs are typically a hub of campus culture,” said Griffiths. “Now that we are a university, its important that we foster bringing students together, bringing students and professors together.”

Added Atkinson: “We’ll take another look at it at the end of the semester and I am absolutely convinced it will have been a success. We will look at doing more in the spring.”