On Sunday, April 6, the Elizabethtown College Class of 2016 held the first Color Classic, a 4.5 kilometers run, during which participants were showered with colored powder.
The Class of 2016 had been brainstorming a large-scale event that could bring together not only students, but also members of the of the community.
Some members of the class who had participated in similar activities, such as “The Color Run” or “Color Me Rad,” suggested hosting an event called the Etown Color Classic.
Holding an event of this scale takes months of planning, but the Class of 2016 knew from the beginning that it would donate much of its proceeds to a non-profit organization. “We decided to support the Arc of Lancaster County because, as a class, we believed in their mission and some of our student senators have worked with them in the past,” Erik Cianci, the class of 2016 president, said.
From the proceeds, 75 percent went to Arc of Lancaster and the remaining 25 percent went to replacing the magnolia tree on campus that had been taken down.
“Although the class of 2016 may not be making a profit, we strongly feel that there are and will be a lot of positive benefits as a result of this race,” Cianci said.
The Etown Color Classic was a brought about 500 runners and over 50 volunteers. “It was really fun and it went really well. You could tell there was a lot of planning involved. At the end, we did the color bomb, which is when everyone throws color in the air. It was awesome — a little hard to breathe — but awesome,” senior Kim Cosgrove, a participant of the run, said.
According to Cianci, roughly 200 of the event’s participants were not students. Anyone was welcome, so these additional participants could have been community members, people affiliated with Arc of Lancaster County or friends and family of students. Following the event, the class of 2016 donated $3997.23 to the Arc of Lancaster.
The event began and ended on Cedar Street, but participants also traveled on Mt. Joy Street, Groff Avenue and Campus Road in addition to touring through campus. All who participated received a white T-shirt and sunglasses. The event garnered appreciation from participants.
“It was really nice to see some of the faculty and their families involved. It was a neat opportunity to be able to be with them in a non-academic setting. I feel like you don’t see that at many schools, the faculty and students doing fun events like this together,” sophomore Brynne Kirsch, another participant, said.
Being able to donate to the non-profit organization was certainly not the only benefit of this event. It helped to build a relationship with the Arc of Lancaster, provided an opportunity to bring the community and the College together and helped to replace the magnolia tree.
Some members of the College community were upset with the removal of the tree and the class of 2016 felt that helping to replace it would be a noble act. “As students, we saw the value in the tree and will take the initiative to have it replanted so that it may be enjoyed for many generations to come,” Cianci said.
