Mock Wedding. 200 Nights. Clam Jam.
These are just some of the annual events held by the Student Beach Resident Association that are among the most popular traditions at Fairfield. However, these events are catered more toward student beach residents, and not to upperclassmen living at the townhouses.
Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), a leadership honor society at Fairfield, intends to change that. The Leadership Conference Committee of ODK wants to generate ideas for similar on-campus events, both dry and alcohol permitting.
“We want to establish events that will get students really interested. The goal is to have everyone talking about the activities,” said ODK member Jimmy Allwein, ’04.
Allwein listed some ideas that ODK is considering for next year. “If all the townhouse blocks had to represent a certain country for a week and compete to see which block put on the best display, it could be like an Epcot Center of townhouses,” he said. “Townhouses could make drinks from that country, play music, hang flags, and cook food to get people involved,” he said.
While such an event would have alcohol for those age 21 and older, ODK members know that they face a bigger challenge in sponsoring dry events for the townhouse residents.
Current townhouse residents agreed that a spark needs to be lit in the social community of the townhouses. Jen Shea, ’04, hadn’t even heard of Spam Jam, the only annual event held in the townhouse quad. “They should have other events in the beginning of the year for everyone to see each other,” she said.
Kristen Antonellis, ’04, said, “There are not a lot of activites that students in the townhouses can participate in all together similar to the Mock Wedding.” Organized by the SBRA, Mock Wedding is exactly that. Students who live at the beach submit their votes for who should be bride and groom, and a wedding is staged.
“The beach association does a great job of doing events with the beach residents. There aren’t any activities for the townhouses except Spam Jam,” Antonellis said.
Still, some students look forward to the townhouses’ one spring tradition. “Any event that offered free food and beer would be pretty popular, but Spam Jam has an added degree of excitement because of the end of classes and it’s last party before finals,” said Mike Ciavaglia, ’04.
Director of Security Todd Pelazza would not comment on how the Security Department felt about having more alcohol-related events on campus, but he did not discourage the idea.
“It’s part of campus life to have events on campus. The past May Day events we’ve had have been very successful, and student behavior has been very acceptable. I don’t see why we could not continue to have these events,” he said.
Pelazza listed guidelines that the new events would have to follow. “The event would have to be approved through Activities, through Residence Life, and it also depends where they plan on having them as well. All events that have alcohol on campus require a security officer present,” he said.
Students who will be living at the townhouses next year looked forward to the addition of new events. “For one, there are a bunch of tiny quads at the townhouses that don’t get used for anything. They could hold concerts, barbecues, or even have flea markets where students could buy cool gadgets and food,” said Liam Hanley, ’05.
Still, with all these ideas for more townhouses activities, some feel the will beach will remain the more popular place to live among upperclassmen. “Students like the beach because it’s off campus,” Hanley said. “It’s fun to hunt down all the parties and walk into these fraternity/sorority type houses that have had names passed down to different groups of students.”
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