This week, the Illinois Wesleyan campus celebrated Valentine’s Day. Registered Student Organizations, academic and administrative departments, Sodexo, and students came together to enjoy this day of love.
Sodexo’s beloved Mamcita decorated the dining hall with Valentine’s Day decorations, as she does every year. She dedicated a table to heart-shaped candy and flowers, where students could make their own assorted candy bags to enjoy.
Greek life on campus held many philanthropic events, as Sigma Alpha Iota sold 667 “Cupcake Crushes’ and made cards for children at a local hospital. Alpha Gamma Delta raised money for their Fighting Hunger fundraiser with their Cookie Gram event, which let students send an anonymous cookie from the local Ivy Lane Bakery to anyone on campus.
RSOs also hosted events all week surrounding Valentine’s Day. The Asian Pacific American Coalition held an origami-making event, and BSU delivered a “Crush For your Crush”, where students could send Orange Crush soda to each other.
Students could be seen all around campus holding bouquets of flowers, chocolate hearts, and teddy bears. Valentine’s day cards were put up on bulletin boards, and the Office of Residential Life created an admiration wall in their office for students to stop by and write to someone anonymously.
Those who didn’t get to participate in the Valentine’s Day cheer on campus had plans of their own around the Bloomington-Normal community.
“Me and my boyfriend went out to dinner at Seoul Mama and then watched the third Lord of the Rings movie,” sophomore Lily Sakalys said.
“This Valentine’s, I went out to Lucca’s Grill with my friends. We went really late because a lot of us work, and the restaurant was still filled with couples,” sophomore MJ Soria said. “Afterwards we made chocolate dipped strawberries and talked about our love lives.”
Junior Molly Clemente got ahead of her busy schedule and celebrated during the weekend with dinner at Anju and Above. “We had an early Valentine’s Day with close friends and a double date. We spent the night sharing stories and laughter,” she said. “On actual Valentine’s day my partner gave me a card and my favorite crappy chocolates, then we watched our favorite show.”
Some celebrated even further off-campus with their long distance valentines.
“Even though my best friends live in Louisiana and I’m here in the midwest, I still was able to make my best friend feel special,” said junior Jezuete Lafuente. “I bought her a bracelet and made an original canva Valentine’s card. We were each others’ valentines.”
“I heard people talking about their partners giving them flowers and I saw people handing their friends gifts,” said sophomore Hannah Kocar. “I think my favorite part of the day was seeing everyone smiling in cute pink outfits and having a great time with people they love.”