On Friday, Oct. 23, members of various UIW student organizations participated in the annual Light the Way Display Board Contest on the Broadway campus. The festive tradition invited students to kick off the holiday season by creating display boards that highlight the creativity and Cardinal spirit of the UIW community. The boards will be featured at the 40th Annual Light the Way Holiday Festival on Saturday, Nov. 21.
Students arrived early in the morning armed with paints, brushes and sponges, ready to transform their blank boards into colorful displays. Teams quickly got to work sketching and painting original designs that highlighted their organizations while incorporating festive holiday themes. The result was a vibrant showcase of creativity, collaboration and school pride.
One of this year’s judges, Crystal Campos-Rosales, UIW alumna and employee, revived the contest in 2010
while organizing Light the Way. When Rosales was working at UIW in 2009, she discovered archived photos of display boards and took the initiative to revive the tradition, which has continued ever since. Rosales shared “This was my first time judging and I was blown away! The level of engagement has increased significantly from where it began. In 2010, there were only a total of 7-10 organizations who participated, and this year there were nearly 30! The level of planning and detail the students used this year was also impressive, especially as we celebrate the 40th year of this beloved San Antonio tradition.”
Catholic Television San Antonio (CTSA) was on site with Archbishop Gustavo Siller-García, MSpS, to film the Face-to-Face series hosted by the Archbishop. The series features meaningful one-on-one conversations with young Catholic students from across the community. Making his first visit to UIW’s Display Board Contest, he spent time with students and took a keen interest in their work as they completed their boards. UIW Special Events Manager Denise Aguilar spoke with the Archbishop about the purpose of the contest and shared that “the event is a nice opportunity for students to work together as a team and communicate for one common goal using their creativity.”
The contest concluded in the afternoon, with a total of 29 boards uniquely decorated for judges to review. Students competed for a chance to win organization funds by placing in contest categories including Best Interpretation of Light the Way, Most Mission Friendly Design and People’s Choice Award. This year’s monetary prizes were larger topping at $250 in recognition of this year’s 40th Anniversary of Light the Way.
The top first place winner was Lambda Pi Eta with their design being the only board to acknowledge the 40th
anniversary. Theresa Servin, the new president of Lambda Pi Eta helped create the design that secured their debut win. Servin earned her second Display Board Contest win, having first claimed the title last year while serving in the Student Government Association. “I was initially nervous about the turnout for our first event but the team showed up with a strong camaraderie and we won! The camaraderie was the most important thing for me as the new president of our organization,” said Servin.
Fellow team member Zindi Vega shared “This win is especially important because we’re restructuring Lambda PI Eta and we wanted to increase our visibility to the community.”
You can see all 29 boards on display at this year’s 40th Light the Way on Saturday, Nov 21.
Click here to learn more about Light the Way Holiday Festival https://www.uiw.edu/lighttheway/