Luke Valentine’s year has been both very good and very bad. Like Edward Cullen in Twilight, vice-president events Valentine absolutely loves music. While some non-music oriented weekly events have suffered slightly under Valentine’s tenure, other big name events have boomed.
His year was first marked by an incredibly successful U of C 101, which he is very proud of. Attendance and retention was up from previous years and campus clubs and TriMedia groups found a boost in volunteers. Other successful events include Sexual Awareness Week, Arts Week and Nog Fest — where Valentine raised almost $8,000 for local charity Inn From the Cold and had even uglier sweaters than last year.
Outside of this, his term has been marked with a “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” platform — which he accomplished with another season of successful That Empty Space, including a very well-attended 100th show.
Commissioners say that Valentine’s weakness was creating a more effective team environment. They say that his communication skills need some improvement and that he didn’t put his commissioners to work. At the same time, commissioners lauded Valentine for his ability to think up innovative marketing ideas.
Bermuda Shorts Day has been especially vexing for Valentine. With a constantly changing location, the SU has been frustrated trying to plan out details. He jokes that he’s been checking the weather hourly to ensure that it is co-operating. Other than that, it will be a more rock-oriented event in Lot 32 come Friday.
Overall, Valentine started rough but improved in the second semester after remembering that there is more to his portfolio than just music.