The Basics:
Name: William Wall
Class Year: 2020
Hometown: Manasquan, NJ
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Your Favorite…
…class at Bucknell? Extreme Discoveries
…spot on campus? 2nd Floor Library Couches
…place you’ve traveled? Maui, Hawaii
…restaurant on Market Street? Siam
…song? Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers
…movie? The Hurt Locker
…book? Designing Your Life
…food? Chicken Parmesan
More about Chrysalis:
1. What is your position/title in planning Chrysalis? What are your responsibilities?
Position: Director of Chrysalis
As one of the largest annual events on campus since 1999, Chrysalis is both the celebration of a successful completion of the school year as well as the unification of faculty, staff, student, and all backgrounds of the Bucknell community. My role as the director of Chrysalis is to organize and execute the overall planning of the entire event. Typically, the position is a one-person show, however, I brought on Rachel Michael as my assistant director of the event and Simone McLaren as my head marketer. By bringing on these two, I am able to focus on other event aspects and add features which are not typically a part of this already impressive evening.
2. How was Shaggy chosen to be the headliner?
Chrysalis is an event for the people, by the people. When choosing an artist, Chrysalis usually gets a “throwback,” an artist that has since passed their limelight. However, this year I decided to lessen the magnitude of “throwback” of the artist and find someone who would still be greatly remembered by the student body. In the end, the student polls chose Shaggy. Still staying relevant, Shaggy has been active lately performing at the Grammys, releasing a new album with Sting, and soon even doing a private concert for Queen Elizabeth’s 92nd birthday! He will definitely be an act to remember.
3. Other than awesome music, what should Bucknellians look forward to at Chrysalis this year?
I am a big believer of change and “testing the waters.” If things are not changed over time, there is no way to tell if something could work even better! That is why I am incorporating many cool aspects to this year’s Chrysalis. New features include a large ice sculpture, a large candy bar display, alcoholic bars for those over 21yr and mocktail bars for those under to give the classy ambience to all, a photo opportunity area with several new, cool stations, wristbands containing LED lights that coordinated to the music play as seen at the Super Bowl LII, and many other features!
4. What other campus activities are you involved in?
Current
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Director of Chrysalis
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Fellow – Stanford University Innovation Fellow (1 year)
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Founder – Design-Thinking Leadership Pre-Orientation (Launching Summer 2018)
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President – American Society of Mechanical Engineers(2 years)
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Executive Programing Chair – Activities and Campus Events (2 years)
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Executive Board Member – Student Lectureship Committee (1 year)
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Mechanical Representative on Board of Directors – Bucknell Engineering Alumni Association (2 years)
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Community Service Chair – Chi Phi Fraternity (1 year)
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Entrepreneurship and Innovation Affinity (1 year)
Previous
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Vice President – Interreidential Hall Association McDonnell Dorm (1 year)
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Participant – Institute for Leadership in Technology and Management, Bucknell Fabrication Workshop, Deloitte Start Up Bucknell
5. If you could have free tickets to see any artist perform live, who would you want to see and why?
If I could see any performer, it would have to be Bruce Springsteen. As a Jersey Shore resident, he had his rise to fame in the town over from me and regularly visits my town to surf and jump on stage to play a song at restaurants. While I have been able to catch him in public a few times, I have never been able to see his full performance in concert and would love that.