After 14,000 cookies, Millikin hosts a successful 91st Cookie Party. There were plenty of cookies for everyone regardless of arrival time or dietary restrictions.
The Cookie Party was held on December 11th, from 2-4 p.m. and the initial line ran from the third floor of University Commons clear out to the first floor lobby. While the line may have seemed endless, it moved quickly and there were more than enough cookies to go around.
“I didn’t realize how long the line was going to be. I was told there was going to be a lot of people, but I did not think it was going to be this many people,” Emma Marksberry, a Cookie Party first-timer, said. “It was crazy and I didn’t realize how many cookies there were going to be and everyone was so nice about it.”
It takes a lot of planning to coordinate an event the size and scale of the Cookie Party. There are a lot of moving parts that must be organized such as finding volunteers, collecting cookies, providing entertainment, establishing partnerships with the community, sending reminders to students, setting up the room, working with caterers, and creating a visual presentation. Many of the cookies come from donations from the Millikin community as well as those in the surrounding area. To ensure there will be enough, cookies are also purchased from outside entities.
“We have gluten-free cookies, vegan cookies, traditional sugar cookies, cookies full of sweet and fat and butter. We take into account people with allergies,” Wallace Southerland, Vice President of Student Affairs, said. “We are very mindful and respectful of people with different dietary needs and we do accommodate them. We have something for everybody.”
This year, there were multiple music groups who performed outside the banquet room where the event was held. This created a lively holiday ambience for Cookie Party attendees to hang out and enjoy the festivities. In addition to the cookies, there were different flavors of punch as well as a coffee and hot chocolate bar. With the abundance of cookies, there are sure to be leftovers. The university donates all remaining cookies to a different charity every year. This year, the cookies will go to Northeast Community Fund.
“It’s definitely intimidating just seeing so many people in one space. It can be hard to navigate, but it can also be fun because you might run into some people that you know,” Audrey Soeterman, a Cookie Party third-timer, said.
The Cookie Party serves as an opportunity for students to escape the inevitable end-of-semester stress. It is always a highly anticipated event and students are often disappointed if they have conflicts that prevent them from attending. Hope Self was unable to attend last year, but went her freshman year. Self likes a plain sugar cookie and was glad she was able to make it this year.
“I think it’s just a great break from final stress and it’s fun just to see all the students. It’s something that everybody can come to and you just see all different types of people, which I think is really awesome,” Self said.
The lines may have been long, but the cookies were bountiful and the entertainment was top-notch. The Cookie Party once again proves its worth as a tool to unite during the holiday season in a culmination of the Fall semester. Now that it is over, the anticipation is sure to commence for next year’s.
“For me, this is my second cookie party and I always enjoy the energy that comes from the fellowship with students and faculty and staff and alumni and community members,” Southerland said. “I get a lot of joy and excitement just watching people fellowship with each other.”
