For the first week of November, Saint Mary’s College Student Government Association (SGA) hosted “Support A Belle Love A Belle” (SABLAB) week.
SABLAB week has been a fall tradition held on Saint Mary’s Campus, with events spanning an entire week. Its intention, SGA president Angela Martinez Camacho explained, is to encourage the building of community among Saint Mary’s students.
“SABLAB week is simply celebrating what it means to be a Belle, building community between one another and having fun throughout a one-week period,” Martinez Camacho said.
For the first time, this year SGA worked ‘Smick Day’ into the SABLAB week of events. This incorporation led to collaboration with many different SGA committees.
Thalia Mora, co-chair of the Social Concerns Committee, spoke on the efforts necessary to make a week like this happen.
“Preparation was a lot of working with my co-chair for Social Concerns, Hannah Kaczor, to budget, order, design and set up these events. We also collaborated with other SGA committees like Student Life and Involvement who really headed up Smick Day and the Academic Liaison Committee for our alum mixer,” Mora said.
Events started at the beginning of the week, early Monday morning, with Chick-fil-A for breakfast in Spes Unica Hall.
“I think students appreciated a yummy start to the week, starting on a good note,” Martinez Camacho said.
Progressing through the week, Tuesday’s event provided students with information from Callisto, and Wednesday’s events included a “Proud Smick” t-shirt pop-up in Le Mans Hall, along with the Smick Day event itself.
“Tuesday, we tabled with a representative of Callisto to promote the online tool to students — especially as we continue or address and fight against sexual violence. Wednesday, we had a t-shirt pop-up around 3 p.m. and Smick Day later in the afternoon,” Martinez Camacho said. “I think this was my favorite day and event because we provided that sense of community to our students through food and various other activities.”
Mora explained the on-campus significance of SABLAB, specifically the students’ positive feedback at events throughout the week.
“During many of the pop-ups and events throughout the week, we got so many comments about how it would make people's day and that it made them feel appreciated as a student and a Belle. It was really cool to hear and see how excited students were about the little things that reminded them that they are cared for,” Mora said.
Martinez Camacho illustrated the overall impact the week of events had on the students and the Saint Mary’s community.
“As a historically all-women’s college, we are incredibly unique. This week allows us to celebrate that uniqueness and embrace and reinforce the community that has been built.” Martinez Camacho explained. “Especially as the semester is starting to come to a close, we want our students to feel supported by all of the Belles around them, knowing that this is a community that is right there to demonstrate love, unity and fight for their best interests.”
Contact Cora Haddad at chaddad01@saintmarys.edu.
