The Triangle

Issue date: 5/29/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Nicolle Morales-Kern

The Drexel University Traditions Program will host a second annual Bon Voyage event at the Field House June 6 to congratulate seniors and give them another opportunity to say goodbye, according to Ari Winkleman, marketing chair for the Traditions Program.

"We intentionally don't plan activities because the focus is on the seniors, and we want them to be able to relax, enjoy themselves and be able to drop by at any time," Winkleman, a sophomore business student, said.

Winkleman said an indoor location was a priority for the event. Field House was chosen this year because it could accommodate any number of seniors and avoid the warm weather, which had been troublesome at last year's Bon Voyage, held on the Moshulu, a permanently anchored boat in South Philadelphia.

In the late 19th century, when Drexel University was still an all-boys school, Drexel's first president, James MacAlister, would allow students to miss class in order to see warships set sail from the shipyard. This was the principal impetus behind having the first Bon Voyage on the Moshulu.

"[For Bon Voyage] we're not watching warships, but we're watching seniors go off into the real world," Winkleman said,

Winkleman said this event also benefits the University, creating a new tradition for Drexel to continue each year.

Winkleman said the creation of Bon Voyage took a year to plan and research. The Traditions Program will continue working on new traditions in an effort to establish at least one new, large-scale event each year.

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