Midnight Breakfast serves up a final celebration

For the 14th year in a row, the small tables of Barone were traded in for long ones with red and green tablecloths; the plain tunes of Star 99.9 were replaced with Christmas classics; and faculty and staff served students a hearty meal in bright green holiday aprons. Yes, it’s that time of the year again: Midnight Breakfast.

Fairfield @ Night has been planning the event since late October, ensuring its enjoyment and fun for all students, according to Elizabeth Elliott, program coordinator in the Office of Student Engagement.

Even though the line to enter extended past the Barone Campus Center Information Desk, there were activities in the Oak Room to make the wait time more enjoyable. Large tables with crayons on them were available for writing messages or drawing snowmen and live music from “The Lionfish,” a group of Fairfield students. There was also face painting, balloon animals and a streaming of the holiday movie “Elf.”

Sophomore Jenny Schwartz believed the event was well worth the long wait in line.

“It’s awesome; I think it’s a lot of fun,” said Schwartz, “The live music was great. Shout out to The Lionfish.”

Upon entering the Main Dining Room, students were seated and were served pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausages and home fries. They could also enjoy gingerbread cookies, hot chocolate, orange juice and mini muffins and pastries.

To celebrate the holiday spirit, students stood up on chairs and danced to Christmas favorites such as “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey.

“I think it’s great,” said Ethan Perkus ‘18, “It’s exactly what this campus needs. It’s a relaxing event during a tense period.”

Midnight Breakfast is becoming more and more popular every year. Starting last year, Midnight Breakfast was served in two different rotations, at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. According to Elliott, this was to ensure that the maximum amount of students could be served. This year, both seatings sold out, which was not the case last year, when there were still tickets available for the 8:30 p.m. seating available after the tickets were sold.

“Having two seatings allows for more students to be able to get through the dining hall in the allotted amount of time,” said Elliott. “These two seatings also allow for the volunteers who are serving the breakfast to have a short break to re-stock food and to clean up before seating more students.”

Allowing more students to attend the event has translated into a more enjoyable experience by all.

Sophomore Sarah Foley, who had never been to Midnight Breakfast before, said, “I heard a lot about it. Everyone last year said that they had a really awesome time, and that I would be missing out if I didn’t come at least once in my Fairfield career.”

Elliott seemed to agree with this idea.

“Midnight Breakfast is one of the Fairfield events that students remember for years to come,” she commented. “With the event taking place the night of the last day of classes, students are ready to celebrate finishing the fall semester before they have to start studying for exams. The event gets everyone in the holiday spirit and allows for students to see their favorite staff, faculty and administration in a setting different than the office or classroom.”