University Union

Weekly Member Highlight: Lorelai Soper Lorelai Soper, a junior majoring in Television, Radio, and Film with a minor in Music Industry, holds multiple roles that reflect her passion for the entertainment industry. She’s currently a member of the Concerts Board at University Union and serves as the Mini-Series Co-Coordinator. Beyond UU, Lorelai is the Talent Booker for Cuse Tonight at CitrusTV. One of her favorite experiences was working as a runner during Juice Jam 2024, where she assisted with day-of-show logistics. She considers her biggest accomplishment so far to be landing her first professional internship as an A&R intern at Double Down 11, where she gained invaluable industry experience. Now, Lorelai is eager to continue her journey, seeking internships in booking, talent representation, or management to further her career in the music and entertainment fields.

Introducing Member Highlights, this weeks feature goes to Emma Barbosa: Emma Barbosa, a junior majoring in Studio Arts, has embraced leadership roles as the Design Director for University Union, the Head of Graphics for Moody Magazine, and the Design Director for WJPZ Radio. Her favorite project so far has been working on Juice Jam 2023, where she had the opportunity to experiment with 3D typography for the first time. This project was particularly exciting for Emma because it was a highly collaborative effort. She worked closely with the production team to animate the event posters and with the marketing team to create fun, eye-catching merchandise that perfectly captured the spirit of the event. The process gave her invaluable experience in integrating graphic design with different media elements, reinforcing her passion for creative projects. Now, Emma is looking to expand her experience with an internship in graphic design, where she can continue to explore her love for visual storytelling. See some of her from her classes and UU below!

Over the last couple months, I had the privilege of creating the poster for University Union's Juice Jam 2024 at the JMA Wireless Dome. I learned so much during this process and am so happy with the final result. I want to thank Naimah Rahman, Enoca Shin, Emma Barbosa, Camille Rowlands-Rees and Ryan Lima for their help through this process and putting on such an amazing show!

Introducing the Cinemas Board, the team responsible for bringing you weekly screenings of the latest films—complete with free popcorn, of course! Jordan Burda Co-Head with Patrick Chambers shared their experience on the board: "Being on Cinemas has allowed me to share my passions for film with the Syracuse community." The rest of the team to bring you your favorite shows includes Sophia Burke, Emily Chang, Matthew Liao,Jacob Pasteur, Jason Shin, Josephine Blain, Delaney Szabo, and Peony Yeon Don’t miss this week’s feature, Dune: Part One, showing on October 11th and Dune: Part two showing on October 12th in the HBC Gifford Auditorium at 8 p.m.!

We’re excited to introduce you to our Public Relations Board! This team collaborates closely with the President Naimah Rahman, Vice President Enoca Shin, artists, and artist teams to ensure everything operates smoothly. In addition to making sure show days go off without an issue, the Public Relations team manages press responsibilities, including maintaining relationships with other student-run publications at Syracuse University. Reflecting on the role, the head of the board María Qui?ones Rios shares, “Live entertainment can be an industry that is sometimes difficult to break into, and because of that, this experience is priceless.” The rest of the team includes Charlotte Wall as PR assistant , Lachlan Sartison as alumni coordinator and Shayla Ismael as vetting coordinator! Looking forward to a great semester!

We’re excited to introduce you to our Public Relations Board! This team collaborates closely with the President Naimah Rahman, Vice President Enoca Shin, artists, and artist teams to ensure everything operates smoothly. In addition to making sure show days go off without an issue, the Public Relations team manages press responsibilities, including maintaining relationships with other student-run publications at Syracuse University. Reflecting on the role, the head of the board María Qui?ones Rios shares, “Live entertainment can be an industry that is sometimes difficult to break into, and because of that, this experience is priceless.” The rest of the team includes Charlotte Wall as PR assistant , Lachlan Sartison as alumni coordinator and Shayla Ismael as vetting coordinator! Looking forward to a great semester!

Happy October! As we head into the new month we want to share what us at UU have been up to! On the weekend of September 21st, we introduced a brand new experience?with the first-ever Jamboree to kick of the Juice Jam weekend. The quad was filled with students enjoying free food, games, DJs, inflatables, and more! Everyone within University Union showed up to help keep the event running smoothly for three hours. Thanks to Kate McKenna and Hannah Costa, our Collaborations Board, for pioneering this event. We followed up an amazing Saturday evening with Juice Jam on Sunday night. Thanks to our amazing Concerts Board (led by Camille Rowlands-Rees and Ryan Lima) we heard music from artists Smino, Maisie Peters and Quavo. Photos from Troy Conner, Braden Kletz and Katie Huang Check out our article below to get the full scoop on the events! https://lnkd.in/eU67YWJV

During the 2023-24 academic year, I had the privilege of serving as Vice President for University Union alongside President Samuel Johnston. As VP, I was responsible for overseeing internal operations and project management. This role involved acting as the liaison between SU administration and our 80-member organization, coordinating tasks across our 12 boards and 16 Board of Directors and ensuring everyone had the resources they needed to perform their jobs to the fullest potential. Because UU is a fully student-run organization, the highlight of my year was being able to develop a motivating, creative environment for everyone to collaborate and bring ideas to life. I measured this by logging the average amount of time spent in the office, which reflected a 52% increase from the Fall to Spring semester, with our members logging ~1 hour in Fall to at least 3 hours in Spring. Another win for the organization last year was our resurgence in attendance after being remote for 2020 and 2021. One of our largest events, Block Party, had a 167% increase from Spring 2023 to Spring 2024, from ~1,500 attendees in 2023 to ~4,000 in 2024. I attribute this to the hardest-working people I've gotten to work with, Design Directors Quinn Carletta and Emma Barbosa, Concerts Directors Annie Levin and Camille Rowlands-Rees, Collaborations Directors Kate McKenna and Lillian Benge, Social Media Director Hannah Kushner, Marketing Director Enoca Shin and PR Director Alessandra D'Angelo. Another initiative that Sam and I introduced this year was required DEIA sessions to hold conversations and learn what DEI means in a programming and entertainment space. Bringing alumni and DEI professionals to our space would not be possible without our DEIA Director Kaitlyn Paige and PR Director Alessandra D'Angelo, with thanks to Sadiq Ervin and Jace Sim?es Rodrigues for coming to talk! I want to also greatly recognize Ruby Mendelson, Kristin Moffitt and Lily Brooks, who put together not 1, but 2 SOLD OUT COMEDY SHOWS featuring Jake Shane and Joe Gatto. This year we also launched our new platform, The Universe, our new editorial publication, with help from Editorial Director Payton Dunn. Shoutout to Patrick Chambers for curating each Cinema Screening wonderfully! Please check out the Instagram, @UniversityUnion, to stay up to date. I can't wait to re-join UU for Spring 2025 as a Co-Concerts Director! 2023/24 University Union Programming Schedule: Fall 2023 -? Quad Tunes, in collaboration with SU Athletics 13 Cinemas Screenings across 15 Weeks Juice Jam Kickback Comedy - Student Comedy Show Bandersnatch Concert Series - Empire State of Mind PA Show - Jake Shane Spring 2024 - Comedy Carnival - Student Comedy Show Student Concert Showcase A Comedy Show with Joe Gatto Alumni Event - Jace Rodriguez DEI Event - Sadiq Ervin A Night with Sherry Cola Block Darty Block Party