While most Biolans were still snoozing, hundreds of Biola staff and volunteers were preparing for one of the biggest events the university has held in two decades: a presidential inauguration—with all the glamour and fanfare to boot.
Claire Scholl, intern for the Centennial Celebrations team, was out and about at 6 a.m. on Friday setting up hundreds of tables on Metzger Lawn for the day’s community lunch. The rest of the day she spent running various errands alongside members of Student Development and Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC).
“Basically every aspect of Biola was involved in this,” said Scholl.
Campus Safety was one particularly noticeable backdrop during the celebration. Every officer was deployed during the event, with reinforcements provided by the La Mirada city sheriff’s department, said Jason Camorlinga, a lieutenant with Campus Safety.
Campus Safety officers stayed up late to work during the inaugural dinner and then showed up as early as 5:30 a.m. to begin work the next day. Their job has been to “maintain a visual presence” around the events as well as deter possible pranks that could be attracted by the scale of the event, said Camorlinga.
People like IMC staffer David Baxter helped coordinate video elements during the celebration. Before Thursday’s delegate’s dinner, he filmed interviews of guests, which included Biola faculty and members of the board of trustees.
During the inauguration ceremony, Baxter and others operated cameras, which fed video to the large screen behind the stage and to monitors set up in the café. Event Services, another team with a prominent “behind-the-scenes” role, set up these displays, as well as the sound equipment used throughout the week.
“I only got three hours of sleep last night,” said Baxter, after being asked if he was tired.
Bon Appétit catering showed up in force to give the guests at Thursday’s dinner a full-service meal, complete with hors d’oeuvres before the meal and a cheesecake dessert. Many of the caterers worked till midnight cleaning up the event, only to prepare the next morning for the lunch on Metzger Lawn. The lunch was scheduled to draw up to 5,000 people, according to Bon Appétit’s catering schedule.
Biola Fest, which is designed as a homecoming for alumni and a celebration of Dr. Corey’s inauguration, begins tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Lunch will be served on Metzger Lawn and Christian band MercyMe will be performing. New shoes will be collected at the event and donated to the Union Rescue Mission.
