By Holly Ward

Student Engagement & Leadership (SEAL) is one of the major umbrella organizations at Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo) that oversees numerous student organizations. If there is a campus event going on, SEAL is behind it.

Its mission statement reads: “The Student Engagement & Leadership office cultivates a sense of belonging and connectedness in the university community by empowering and educating students through co-curricular activities, leadership development, and civic outreach.”

Located in the Occhiato Student Center, room 102, the SEAL office is home to about 15 student employees. Katherine Higgins is SEAL’s Orientation Core Team Lead. This semester, she will begin her first year working full-time for SEAL and has assisted in three orientation seasons.

“Without student employees, SEAL would never be able to do all the cool things we do,” Higgins said. “For New Student Orientation, we had our student employees filling gift bags for everyone and making name tags.”

SEAL just completed hosting Welcome Week during the first week of classes for the university. A different event was offered each day for students to enjoy in between classes. Many events offered free swag items and complimentary snacks and beverages. This year, New Student Orientation, which took place the Saturday before the first day of school, saw a record number of participants, with approximately 530 attendees.

“Last week was crazy, amazing, and the longest week of my life. It was awesome to see how many students we got to get involved,” Higgins said. “On Friday alone, we saw over 215 students come to Pack the Patio to get free state fair tickets and enjoy the silent disco.”

The next biggest SEAL event students should be looking for is the Packfest Music Festival, which will take place on Saturday, Sep. 16, at the CSU Pueblo Hasan Outdoor Amphitheater.

“While I do love orientation, I also love the atmosphere of Packfest and getting to bring something so awesome to campus,” Higgins said. “Packfest is a cheap concert held for students on campus that we have every year. It’s a music festival, so we have different food trucks, small pop-up shop vendors, and we are going to have a mechanical bull along with a beer garden.”

This year’s Packfest artist lineup includes Waka Flocka Flame, Kid Ink, Wiz the Mic, and Carmen Deleon. Students can purchase their tickets for $10 online. 

SEAL will also host Homecoming & Family Weekend toward the beginning of October. The easiest way students can stay updated about SEAL’s events is through their Instagram @mycsupueblo_ or through signing up for their free texting service—to sign up for the texting notifications, text “CSUP” to the number 71444.