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QAC Is No Duck Out of Water

Wilmington College has a long history of encouraging and facilitating student innovation and creativity. Still, Logan Florea met resistance when he pitched his idea about rebranding the venerable Activities Programming Board (APB) with a new name and enhanced mission. After all, APB existed since 1982 as a mainstay of campus programming.

Yet, last spring the director-to-be was persistent and sought to back up his idea of renaming the organization QAC — Quaker Activities Council (pronounced “quack, like a duck”) — and positioning it to foster increased student engagement and popular programming.

Florea’s quest to sell the name change grew legs when he attended the National Assn. for Campus Activities (NACA) conference last winter. It’s a big-time fair offering best practices for campus activity promotion and features scores of performers, presenters and attractions designed for college audiences. They range from hypnotists and dance troupes to lecturers on contemporary topics and fun activities like combining dance music, a professional disc jockey, colored lights and glow-in-the-dark paint.

“At NACA, I saw there were hundreds of APBs — but no QACs,” he said in emphasizing its novelty. He shared the idea with student representatives from Earlham College, WC’s sister Quaker institution. “They liked it so much they joked they might steal it from us!”

Florea built his case that QAC conjures an image of a duck, which renders it both memorable and fun. Indeed, consider the visual image of the duck in its logo graphic and the sound of “quack” when promoting the abbreviation — QAC — as a verbal expression. He convinced Chip Murdock, senior director of diversity and campus programming, and subsequently the Student Government Assn., which recognizes the Quaker Activities Council as the student programming entity.

“Chip said we need to start the school year strong and especially make a good impression on new students while showing returning students, ‘This is us!’ It’s all about setting that standard.”

QAC was readily visible from the time new students arrived on campus in mid-August. Those newbies’ second day of Orientation concluded with joining returning students in the Foam Party — a popular combination of music, dance, colored lights and bubbles on a hot August night. QAC followed that spectacle with the Paint Party the next evening. A combined 400-plus students attended these welcome events occurring the weekend before classes started.

“About halfway through the Foam Party, a staff member asked what I thought of the great crowd and everyone having so much fun,” Florea recalled. “I almost teared up. I felt like a proud dad, so proud of how my team came together — they showed up full of energy and ready to go —  and so proud of what this campus can do.”

Florea shared an anecdote of how students reinforced the decision to rebrand the programming board. QAC wished to gain visibility by holding a scavenger hunt for “green, squeaky, glow-in-the-dark ducks” dispersed throughout the campus. Students returned only 22 ducks to qualify for prizes while they secured the majority of ducks as instant collectibles.

A Movie-on-the-Mall and the Dub C favorite Grocery Bingo promotion followed the Foam and Paint parties during a Welcome Week in which attendance records as QAC events were “shattered.”

Florea, who is interested in pursuing higher education student affairs, is engaged in an internship at the University of Dayton in that field. His work leading QAC is another hands-on learning experience informed by his career aspirations.

He’s thrilled with QAC’s role in facilitating school spirit through activities at WC as the campus heads into Homecoming/Family Day/ Alumni Reunion Weekend. Florea said the positive affirmation he and QAC received from the campus and President Corey Cockerill motivates him and his staff to keep the momentum going. “At the Foam and Paint parties, Corey said, ‘This is amazing. I recognize what you are doing.’ It means the world that our president supports what we’re doing and taps into the energy!”