Organizers of Welcome Back Week activities at Colgate have set a lofty goal for themselves: they want every student on campus to attend at least one event.

That should be attainable if you consider the range of events that have been scheduled for Aug. 31 through Sept. 11.

Kicking things off on Wednesday (Aug. 31) is an appearance by three members of the Broken Lizard comedy team.
 
Colgate alumni Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske will introduce the showing of Super Troopers, a Broken Lizard film, at 8:30 p.m. on the academic quad. The group’s other film credits include Puddle Cruiser, Club Dread, and The Dukes of Hazzard.

Members of Broken Lizard — Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Lemme, Soter, and Stolhanske — met at Colgate, where they first started performing as a student-run improv group called Charred Goosebeak, which continues today on campus.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by Campus Activities Board Take Two.

Rob Sobelman ‘08, Student Government Association liaison to student groups, coordinated the events for the coming week (and a half).

Besides the appearance by members of Broken Lizard, Sobelman said he also is particularly excited by the lecture on globalization by Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, at 8 p.m. Thursday (Sept. 1).

“It is a topic that is on everyone’s mind in regard to politics, economics, and our futures in the job market.  Being an avid reader of his column in Newsweek, I am anxious to have the chance to hear him speak in person,” said Sobelman.

Zakaria was named editor of Newsweek International in 2000.  He also writes a regular column for Newsweek, and is a regular member of the roundtable of ABC News’ This Week with George Stephanopoulos as well as an analyst for ABC News. He is the host of a weekly PBS show, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, which focuses on international affairs.

Sobelman said the Broken Lizard and Zakaria events embody what SGA is trying to accomplish with the programming.

“I think that these two events exemplify what Welcome Back Week is all about.  It is not just about academics, social life or extra-curriculars.  It is about everything.  It is about making a wide variety of high-quality events and programming available to all students,” he said.

Sobelman hopes this year’s programming builds on the success of last year’s Welcome Back Week. He said organizing the events has been a great way to highlight the diverse student organizations that fall under the SGA umbrella, and has helped forge a strong partnership between SGA and CAB.