Jonas Stankovich ’10 awoke Friday morning and went through his daily routine. But when Stankovich walked out of his Loyola Hall bathroom, he was greeted by former FUSA Senator Spencer Thibodeau ’10.
“I wasn’t wearing red when Thibodeau caught me in the hall and reminded me,” said Stankovich, who then changed and was wearing a red New Division T-shirt that he picked up at Wal-Mart.
Stankovich, like many other Fairfield students, participated in the first of many Fairfield Fridays, in which all students are encouraged to wear red apparel. These school-spirit-centered events are scheduled to appear on the first Friday of every month and continue throughout the year.
The idea originated with FUSA President Hutch Williams ’08.
“I was thinking of a simple yet effective way to boost school pride,” said Williams.
He said the idea came to him when he was “thinking about how cool it looks when tons of fans wear red at games.”
Red shirts, which ranged from Stags in the Stands gear to Regis Hall shirts, were also marked 25 percent off in the bookstore.
“The 25 percent off idea is something I came up with to help encourage people to buy red that day if they did not have any red to wear,” said Williams.
The incentive was achieved through the collaborative efforts of FUSA and the bookstore.
“This is very important for school spirit, but I like to think of it as school pride,” said Williams, who also mentioned that the concept is not just about sports and academics.
“Fairfield Fridays is about each individual stag thinking of something they are proud of, or just how they are proud about Fairfield in general,” he said.
Vivi Vu ’10, who sported an Asian Student Association T-shirt, participated in the festivities.
“It’s important to show pride,” said Vu.
Vu agreed that approximately half of the cafeteria was filled with red-shirted students eating their breakfast at 10 a.m.
“I think [the number of people wearing red] will pick up over the course of the day,” said Stankovich.
Vu and Stankovich said that the monthly red day was enough to inspire school spirit.
“If they [FUSA] did it every week, it would just get old,” said Vu.
The next Fairfield Friday is Oct 5.
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