Mesa Community College kicks off school spirit campaign
Mesa Community College’s campuses held a world premiere of Thorsday: A Day in the Life on Thursday, Nov. 3 to kickoff the Thorsday campaign to increase school spirit.
The Southern and Dobson campus held the event in the Navajo Room and the Red Mountain campus held the event at the Wrap Center.
MCC students were able to take pictures with Thor the Thunderbird, eat popcorn and candy, spin from a prize wheel if you had a ticket, and prepare to watch the world premiere of Thor: The Day in the Life. This portion of the event lasted until the movie premier of Thor: Day in the Life was played.
Many students, faculty, and staff spun the prize wheel and won MCC swag gear such as the new Thor T-shirt, a water bottle, and other gear.
The Thorsday kickoff movie premiere began when Student Services Director Kris Bliss at Southern and Dobson campus spoke to students, faculty, and staff about the history of Thor the Thunderbird and prepared students to watch the Thorsday: Day in the Life video.
Erica Horihan the Coordinator of Student Life and Leadership at MCC Red Mountain did the same at Red Mountain simultaneously.
Bliss played the original Thor video at the start of the event when all attendees were seated. Following the original video, Mesa Community College president Dr. Tammy Robinson prepared attendees for the premiere of the new Thor: Day in the Life event.
Throughout the video, students at MCC and Thor’s friends were to try to remember what day it was. Thor traveled from the Southern and Dobson campus to the Red Mountain campus.
“It’s supposed to represent what is a student’s daily life,” said Horihan.
MCC student Deshawn Hudgins, who is a communications major and the Executive Vice President of ASMCC, was one of the attendees at the Thorsday kickoff movie premiere. He came to the event to learn what Thorsday is and get more information about MCC since he is new to the state.
“I learned a lot about what Thorsday means. I will show my support every Thorsday by wearing my button and showing school spirit,” said Hudgins.
Another attendee of the movie premiere was MCC student Mulima Mulenga, who is a kinesiology student. Three characteristics he learned from the Thorsday movie were to be caring to other students, show love, and school spirit.
“I got a lot of inspiration out of watching the movie. It brings students together and learning many different ideas from a diverse group to be together,” said Mulenga.
The Thorsday kickoff movie premiere was not only a fun event to get students involved in school spirit, but it also was an informational event. Students learned Thor’s origin and tie to Greek mythology that represents strength and protection, and the Thunderbird’s tie to Indigenous people’s cultures.
“We want this to be an ongoing campaign, this isn’t just a one-time thing, Thorsday is a movement,” said Horihan.
According to Horihan, the idea of re-shooting the Thor campaign came during a summer brainstorming session between Student Life and the Institutional Advancement marketing department.
A day in the life Thorsday was originally thought of by a student-initiated campaign in 2014. The original purpose of the Thorsday campaign was to get students to attend athletic games and support the Thunderbird athletes, according to Horihan.
Horihan said the first video was shot in 2014, which meant it was important to update the content because a student’s life is different in 2022. Student life and IA were able to have many students participate in the video to support Thorsday.
“We can not only promote Thorsday and school spirit, but also help kick off the awareness of the mascot,” said Horihan.
A goal for Student Life was to begin to rebuild the strong sense of community that MCC’s Red Mountain and Southern and Dobson has, according to Horihan.
“We hope to get students to begin to say Happy Thorsday to each other on Thursdays,” said Horihan.
