The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will be strutting its “swag” all over campus this week.

A weeklong celebration, known as CALS Week, officially kicks off Monday, Oct. 8. It  promotes the College of  Agriculture and Life Sciences, which has a placement rate of 98 percent.

“The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has been serving students at Iowa State University for over 150 years,” said Jake Swanson, a junior in global resource systems and current College Of Agriculture and Life Sciences Senator for the Government of the Student Body. “The college is currently serving over 4,500 students in addition to the many lives it influences through its extension and research.”

This year’s theme “See What Agriculture Gives,” or SWAG, is filled with various events and activities aimed toward promoting how agriculture and the life sciences effect everyone on a day-to-day basis.

Steph Carlson and Michael Dolch, co-chairs of CALS Week, hope all ISU students will have conversations with CALS students and agriculture industry leaders about how this college and the agricultural industry affect their everyday lives.

“There is more to agriculture than just the cows, plows and sows,” said Dolch, senior in agricultural and life sciences education. “We invite everyone to come see what we do.”

All ISU students are invited to attend free lunches Monday through Thursday and a free breakfast Friday morning on Central Campus.

Industry sponsors, who play a major role in these weeks’ events, put on these free meals. This year’s sponsors include Dow AgroSciences, MaxYield Cooperative, Iowa Pork Producers, Monsanto, Iowa Beef Industry and Syngenta, among many others.

These industry sponsors not only sponsor the free meal and activities, but also network with students at Iowa State.

“We reach out the industry to gain support for the college and for students,” said Steph Carlson, senior in animal science. “These business find it valuable to sponsor us and our celebration because they know we will contribute back to them.”

CALS Week is also a week for all students of the college to celebrate their accomplishments and throughout the week different events are planned for students to have fun.

The annual CALS Week Kickoff Dance isat 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8, in the Prairie Room of the Gateway Hotel in Ames. On Wednesday, Oct. 10, CALS Week will have a concert at Zekes’s on Lincoln Way at 8 p.m. Granger Smith, a “born-and-bred singer/songwriter,” according to his website, will be performing. The concert is $5 per person.

Through out the week, students within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will have the opportunity to enhance their knowledge about agriculture advocacy, and be prepared for life after Iowa State.

At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 9, in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union, the Agricultural Entrepreneurs Roundtable event will feature owners of Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC. Their company produces rye whiskey in Templeton, Iowa.

At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, in the Ensminger Room in Kildee Hall, Iowa Farm Bureau will take center stage at the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation AGvocacy Seminar. This seminar will give students the ability to improve their overall advocacy for everything agriculture and the life sciences related.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, in Curtiss Hall, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Career Services will host the CALS Financial Planning Workshop for junior and seniors.

Students who attend this event, according to Carlson, can expect a presentation from an agriculture financial advisor to help them prepare their 401Ks and be “fiscally smart” in the industry.

To help celebrate the week, CALS Week T-shirts and cozies, sporting the “SWAG, See What Ag Gives” motto, will be sold. Shirts can be purchased for $10 and cozies for $1.