Over 300 students attended the 6th Annual Global Gala last Thursday in the Driscoll Ballroom, an event that celebrates students returning from their study abroad experience.

Chancellor Robert Coombe made an appearance and welcomed students back from abroad.

“As you come back to DU, I hope you feel transformed,” said Coombe. “I hope you feel different from the person you were when you left.”

He also emphasized the merits of DU’s study abroad program.

“The study abroad program here is about a kind of intellectual maturation,” said Coombe. “If you step back and think about it, it should be a transformative experience. It should be something that helps you learn.”

The event was held on-campus this year, a divergence from years past. Elise Milnes Chester, communications manager of Student Life and advisor of the Junior Class Council, explained the decision.
“We decided to host the event on campus this year for a couple of reasons. The essence of the event is to celebrate the homecoming of DU students, so having it on campus helps to gather everyone back,” said Milnes. “We have done it off campus for the past few years and wanted to see if hosting it on campus would draw more students to attend.”

Milnes said about the same number of students attended the gala last year, and that 75 percent of this year’s attendees were students.

Junior Class Council President Alex Stein said there were limits for this year’s event.

“I was told that it couldn’t be off campus and there couldn’t be alcohol,” said Stein. “Driscoll Ballroom and Driscoll Gallery were an obvious choice [of venue] for us.”

She also said that having the event on campus might have changed things a bit, but she had heard good feedback from multiple people.

“I think we had a really good turnout for it being on campus and being a different venue than it has been in the past,” said Stein. “I think it was received pretty well by the student body, especially the juniors.”

The event is put on by the Junior Class Council and is open to all students, but according to Stein, it is usually aimed towards juniors who were abroad. Stein said the council advertised more to students who were abroad than in years past.

Flavours by Sodexo also provided compostable catering for the Global Gala this year.
“It was sustainable, which is one of DU’s values,” said Stein.

According to Ira Simon, director of Sodexo, the university contacted Sodexo and asked them to prepare menus to help them decide if they wanted to host the event on campus.

After the event, Milnes praised Sodexo’s catering job.

“This was Sodexo’s first time providing catering,” said Milnes. “We were very impressed with the incredible service and unique menu offerings they were able to provide us.”