The end of year Junior/Senior event will be held on The Odyssey cruise ship this April 28. Students must board the ship on the night of Friday, April 27, and will sail into the harbor at midnight, returning at 2 a.m.

Thi is a change of venue from previous Junior-Senior events, which have taken place for the last three years at The River Club in Scituate. Aaron Hebert, Executive Director of Student Events for SGA, is excited about the change. He felt that in previous years, people felt unenthusiastic about the dinner, and holding the event later will shift the focus to celebrating the graduating class. However, Hebert reassures that hors-d’oeuvres will be offered, such as fried mac and cheese.

When asked why he decided to change the venue, Hebert said, “We felt that [The River Club] was way too out of the way, especially for the time we had it at [and] with the traffic.”

SGA will be offering transportation to this year’s event by way of the ENC shuttle. Students will leave the school at 10:30 p.m., board the vessel at 11 p.m., and sail into the harbor at midnight.

SGA is excited about the event because the vessel is brand-new for the upcoming season and our school will be one of the first groups on it. There are three floors with inside and outside decks. “There will be a DJ, dance floor, tables set up, I believe a little program but not too long. It’ll be a sit-down program, but it will be open seating,” Hebert says. Some students had expressed concern about not being able to sit with their dates or friends, so open seating is a plus.

Hebert does not believe the change in time affects the attendance at all. “Last year we only had about 150 people that came, and there were a lot of people that dropped out,” he says. “This year we have deposits coming in for seniors, and that has definitely helped the attendance and definitely guaranteed that people will show up at the door, but we’re approaching the 150-ticket limit.” Seniors had to place a deposit of $10 which will be returned to them at the door. Juniors had to pay $20, sophomores $30, and freshman $40.

For students who remember the Harbor Cruise ENC used to offer in the fall semester, this will be similar. The main difference is that the event will take place later at night. The Harbor Cruise was eliminated from the 2015-2016 school calendar and has not been reinstated since, despite the popularity of the event. The popularity of the past cruises factored into Hebert’s decision to move Junior/Senior event to The Odyssey.

Students will be breathalyzed, and pat-downs will be given at the door on a case-by-case basis. Consuming alcohol and intoxication are not allowed on the harbor late at night per the Coast Guard’s instructions, and will not be tolerated per the ENC covenant.