by Andrew Bailey
The first of three luncheons--talks with the staff about different facets of ECCO, where all members are welcome--was a success! With delicious (free) pizza, delectable people, and dauntless ideas, there are many thoughts to enact upon and move forward with, such as the following! Cliques are and always will be a fundamental feature of any organization, including ECCO, which is why instead of trying to dissolve them in favor of one ECCO-wide friend group, we should embrace them, and try to merge them at certain points here and there. ECCO also has an issue with accountability in many areas, necessitating a plan on how to make every member more accountable for their responsibilities, and be reprimanded accordingly when they disregard their obligations. The IPDPs have also become arguably stagnant since their inception, many members finding ways to play the system. Because of this, they could use a makeover, by changing standards, specializing it for the different grade levels, etc. One of the boldest ideas, from Vrooman, was Kids Teach Kids. This is essentially an ECCO event where younger children can have the opportunity to teach whatever their heart desires to their peers, much like the Free Skool, with ECCO members assisting them in their lesson planning, brainstorming, and teaching. Long term, Vrooman hopes for this to turn into an after school program, instead of a one-off event. Kat Rowe also had the idea of an “ECCO dog petting sesh” (my words), wherein ECCO has a bunch of friendly dogs in a large space like Mac Beach or the Oval available for people to pet, and learn about ECCO at the same time. There is also the idea of reviving the ECCO Talent Show, which is self-explanatory. The hope is to have this event at the end of the fall semester, for any willing ECCOphants to showcase their unique talents on a non-discriminatory platform for the rest of the organization. The talent show plays into another broader idea, which is hosting more all-encompassing events, similar to ECCO’s past, so events aren’t just attended by the host’s friends. Also, the unfortunate reality that houses don’t do much to need a Tuesday night dedicated to them. Because of this, they either need to change and be more regularly active and focused, or go to the cutting board. Last but not least, regular ECCO sports would be a fantastic way for members to have fun with one another while staying fit. The two ECCO soccer teams in the spring of 2018 had a whole lot of fun, and will almost definitely re-form for the spring of 2019. ECCO could make intermural teams for sports such as volleyball, dodgeball, basketball, or any other intermural sports available on campus. Overall, the first luncheon was a great outlet for general thoughts, interesting concepts, and most importantly, wacky ideas.