OPINION: The Organized Disaster of Glow Party and Why We Should DEFUND CAB – The Cauldron

Campus Activities Board (CAB) is one of several General Fee Advisory Committee (GFAC) organizations that make CSU student life enjoyable. They host cute events that all end up being severely underwhelming. From the “Untitled Potato Event” to “Glow Party 2023,” the post-pandemic CAB events, to put it plainly, are just mid. 

The 2023 Glow Party was an organized disaster. They promised “Dippin’ Dots” ice cream; The ice cream ran out early into the event. They promised laser tag; Event workers put up a sign that said “Full” early within the event. They promised an Oxygen bar, a cool experience, but we waited in line for 45 min for a less than five min experience where you simply inhale scented oxygen. The most exciting part was, as usual, the dance floor, where you can listen to “party in the USA,” get an elbow in the back, or in some cases, lose your wallet. 

The final nail in the coffin was when CAB locked the inner link doors. Not only was it raining, but it was nighttime! The students advocated for the inner link doors to remain open until midnight, but CAB took it upon themselves to close the doors and lock them. 

I was not alone this year when I showed up to Glow Party late and left early. Unfortunately, this is not the first time a CAB event has been severely underwhelming. You would think that with a budget of roughly $150,000, they would be able to put on an event where the coolest thing is that there isn’t a chance to win an iPad. It is my opinion that no GFAC organization should be giving out an iPad once or twice a semester to entice students to attend their events. 

As a member of several student orgs, a leader on campus, and a student, I believe that CAB should be defunded -slightly- and that money should be reallocated to other GFAC organizations, specifically, the student publications like The Gavel, The Cauldron, The Vindicator and WSCB, the campus radio station. 

Why? These organizations bring it! From articles regarding Intersectionality and Black History to radio talk shows to critiques of the RTA, our fellow students dedicate so much time and effort to provide entertainment for us, and – more often than not – it gets ignored. 

How do we mitigate this? More funding! This school year, the student publications saw a budget cut before the fall semester started. This really f****** sucked; we could not print physical copies of the Vindicator.

With less money invested into CAB and more money invested into other GFAC organizations like Student Government (SGA), Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA), and Student Bar Association (SBA), we can ultimately increase funding for normal student organizations that receive their money from SGA! These are the organizations that should be hosting events. 

From a campus engagement perspective, the “Student Government Organizations” (Organizations that receive funding from SGA) can host events year-round that are arguably much cooler than many CAB events. It is arguable that if we were to abolish CAB altogether, we would still have awesome and fun campus activities. Still, they will be diverse and bring many different interests to center stage. 

I want to see an engineering club host a battling robot event on campus or a physics club host a lab demo, but instead, we get untitled potato events. These physics demonstrations or battle bot events cost a lot of money… but that is money that CAB holds. 

There is more to CSU’s campus and student life other than just boring untitled potato events and mediocre glow parties, and it’s time that we act like it! Defund CAB and reallocate to other student organizations! 

Disclaimer from the author: I go to CAB events and I find some to be quite enjoyable. For example, I am a big fan of CABsino. 

Disclaimer: This article in no way reflects the views of The Cauldron and its staff. It only reflects the views of the columnist.

Clarification: The Cauldron and The Vindicator were told before the fall semester started that we could not print or buy equipment due to impending budget cuts this academic year, which was not resolved until late October when our budget was unfrozen.

Clarification: Originally, the article stated that the event ran out of stuff within 25 minutes. The Cauldron can verify the actual time stuff ran out, but it was early in the event.