Auburn University Program Council (UPC) commemorates another season of the First 56 events and initiatives held across the Plains. Designed to promote involvement and help connect new and returning students alike, the eight-week series of programs is a tradition at Auburn University, to open the school year with various signature events.
The First 56 serves as a way to offer engagement to students with university organizations in the beginning of the school year, offering a variety of involvement activities across campus. This year, with more initiatives than ever before, turnout for the events far exceeded expectations.
From the tenth anniversary of Waffles with Woodard to the UPC's Fall Concert, the 2024 First 56 events have been some of the most outstanding and exciting yet. Since the final activities ended on Oct. 6, Auburn UPC President Cole Wheeler shared his perspective on the success of the year's events.
"This past year, we've started doing events before the First day of class, and we were seeing 200 to 300 people at each of the events," Wheeler said. "This year, those events held at the First days of class had over a thousand people at them. We were seeing a lot more students, a lot more positive feedback and students were really excited."
At the 2024 Involvement Fair alone, student turnout numbered in the thousands, and lines for Waffles with Woodard far surpassed attendance from previous years.
The highly anticipated 2024 Fall Concert occurred on Aug. 24, with the headliner for the annual event being The Driver Era, consisting of brothers Ross and Rocky Lynch.
The concert would mark one of the many appearances in the North American tour for the Driver Era, and their appearance would lead to one of the fastest sell-outs in GPAC history. Held annually on the First Saturday of the semester to kick off the school year, UPC's Fall Concert received rave reviews from Auburn students.
This year's events were very successful, but they did not come without their challenges.
"The Fall Concert this year was super challenging. The Gogue Performing Arts Center, which hosts the Fall Concert, we work with them every year to make it happen, and typically they have an amphitheater space we use for our concert pre-party," Wheeler explained. "This year, they're doing construction on the amphitheater, which we're super excited to use for next year, but that meant the space was gone this year."
Even with less space, the concert was a huge triumph with tickets selling out in just 25 minutes.
The successes of the First 56 events go far beyond simply getting students involved. The various activities held across campus haven't just served as a way for students to get engaged, but also as a means to have fun as classes begin.
"We always try to be somewhere for students to go and have fun. We always want to give them something to do and for them to have a great time," Wheeler said.
Helping students make lasting connections is a large priority for UPC.
"The real mission of the First 56 is helping people make friends, make connections, because a lot of freshmen come to Auburn and may not know anyone," Wheeler explained. "Even if they are lucky enough to know a few people, they may not have someone to hang out with every day, and so we try to help them make connections at our events, hang out and have a great time, meet new people. We love to see them leaving events with smiles."
With over 400 events held this year alone, students have been able to get involved in countless ways across campus over the past eight weeks. Given the great positive receptions of this year's events, the outlook on the next First 56 is bright.
Auburn's First 56 concluded with several final events, including the UPC Fall Festival, held on Oct. 3, which included various carnival games, rides and food for students to enjoy.
For next year's new new and returning students, Wheeler encourages students to attend the First 56 to make connections and get involved.
"Next year, I would say pick out a few events to go to, go to the ones that interest you," Wheeler concluded. "UPC events are always my favorite, but if some organization for your major is putting on an event, get involved! Definitely, come out and hang out with people, see what they have to offer."
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