Las Positas hosted its annual Tropical Welcome Back Fair on two of Livermore’s hottest days of the year. Between Sept. 9 and 10, the campus saw a bustling student quad filled to the brim with tables from new and returning clubs, as well as Mexican cuisine catered by Taquizas Las Reinas Food Shop, which served dozens.
Custodians came around to clear out the remaining trash shortly after the event finished Thursday afternoon. By the time they were done, the only things left were tables and tents for the following event — along with a mess left by the student government.
The student quad pavement was left with scattered debris, what appears to be metallic blue tinsel or streamers, clumps of shredded straw and collapsed decorations, just left for all to see. According to the custodians, their job was to collect and dispose of the garbage. It was the student government’s responsibility to clean up after themselves. The scattered decorations stayed there as late as 9 p.m., nearly seven hours after the event ended at 2 P.M.
“Once the event wrapped up Thursday afternoon, the team immediately began the teardown and cleanup process,” Woerner said, “but it wasn’t something that could be completed in just a few hours.”
According to the student government bylaw Section 6 A subsection X, all LPCSG officers must “Refrain from reporting to any LPCSG business activities or events to any newspaper or publication without formal approval from the LPSG Advisor, LPSG Director of Outreach, and LPCSG President.”
If that agreement were violated, disciplinary action would be taken against the officer. The severity of the repercussions will then be decided by LPCSG Advisor Josué Hernandez and President Tyson Tieu. With these bylaws in place, representatives of LPCSG are unable to publicly comment on anything.
Woerner sent a statement to The Express on behalf of LPCSG and Student Life. Woerner explained the work the team put into setting everything up, the time it takes to make an event like this happen and that it takes multiple days to set up and take down.
What the email did not address is why the quad was left messy. No explanation of what was done about it or when it was finally cleaned up. The custodial staff explained that it wasn’t their job to touch any of the scattered material left by LPCSG.
Woerner’s email ended with “I’m incredibly appreciative of the LPCSG students and Student Life staff who put so much work into creating a great experience for our students and campus community.”
Another email was sent to the Express by LPCSG Director of Outreach Anthony Vuong, on the afternoon of Sept. 12. Vuong’s statement reiterated the same points as Warner’s email. However, this one provided minimal context to the cleanup process and still no explanation of what happened.
“An event of this size typically takes 3-4 days to set up and several days to completely break down. When the fair ended Thursday afternoon, cleanup and teardown began, but the process was not expected to be completed that evening.” Vuong said. “Materials and decorations must be collected, sorted, cleaned and stored, and many are saved and reused at future events.”
As of that Saturday evening, Sept. 12, the quad wasn’t fully cleaned up, with many decorations scattered across the pavement, bushes,and under trees.
On Sunday, Sept. 12, Hernandez sent an email to the campus through the college email system. He praised the work of Student Government and the community. He also commented on the clean-up process, stating, “Although the fair has concluded, the work behind an event of this size does not end when the tables come down. Student Life and LPCSG are continuing to organize, inventory, clean and properly store event materials and decorations so they can be reused for future fairs and campus activities.”
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TOP PHOTO: Trash left behind from LPC’s Tropical Welcome Back Fair on Thursday, Sept. 10. The event ended at 1:30 p.m., eight hours before the photo was taken at 8:59 p.m. Piles of teal tinsel were scattered across the LPC cement after the event ended. LPCSG still hadn’t cleaned up the garbage by nighttime.
Kian Amininejad is the Senior Staff Writer of The Express. Follow him on X @Kian_Amininejad.
