Flagpoles as senior gift of Class 2010

Illustration by Viktoriya Muresh

The senior gift of the Class 2010 will consist of three seven meter tall flagpoles with flags of Bulgaria, the United States, and the European Union, which will cost 790 leva each.

The flagpoles are planned to be in front of Skaptopara 3 and in the future they may be moved next to the New Academic Building and Student Center in particular, to serve as a background for a Commencement Ceremony.

"The company that will supply, construct, and place the flagpoles is a local company - the same which built the flagpoles facing the Municipality. Architect Dimtcho Tilev (the architect of the campus) suggested the most appropriate location for the flagpoles," Slavova said.

"We could have made a better gift but most schools have flags around their campuses. So I believe it's a necessity for our campus to have flagpoles," Vladimir Popov, senior Bulgarian student said. "But I think that the European Union flag is unnecessary and many students think the same way. Why should it be flag of EU and not of some other country? "

Senior gift is a part of the Annual Action Plan 2010, initiative approved by the Board of Trustees. The procedure for choosing a Senior Gift didn't change from previous years said Sonya Jetcheva, student representative to Commencement Committee (CC).

The Student Commencement Committee (SCC), consisting of graduating students, is the one deciding on the Senior Class Gift to AUBG. Radina Slavova, the chair of the Senior Gift sub-committee, along with a group of other students is responsible for Senior Gift. In order to decide on the Senior Gift SCC organized a questionnaire among senior students during the fall semester.

According to the questionnaire summary that the committee made, 85 percent or 141 students of the 2010 senior class are willing to contribute around $16.2. "We really hope students will donate this amount of money, but nevertheless expect less," Jetcheva said. According to the questionnaire, the senior class divided in two groups, depending on their preferences. The first group which contained the most of senior students proposed a sign reading "AUBG Campus" and flagpoles to be a Senior Gift added Jetcheva. Another group suggested couches, tables and other kinds of furniture on campus as a gift. "Flagpoles is the final decision but actually this is the only option that was approved by the administration. We came up with several other ideas but the flagpoles turned out to fit the plan for the future development of the Skaptopara campus," Slavova said.

At first, the SCC considered putting the sign reading "AUBG Campus" on the place of the public toilet near Skaptopara 3, but the local municipality did not allow the break-down of the small building.

"I like the idea better than gifts from previous years and 10 dollars per senior is basically nothing," senior Tseno Stoyanov, said. "I think it's pretty original and the message will be conveyed," he added.