On Sunday, Dec. 8, the Faber Hall Dining Commons was set for a Midnight Breakfast event offered to residents of 47 Mahan Rd., Meditz Hall, Kostka Hall and the Barnyard Manor to kick off the start of finals.
For many years there has been a tradition at Fairfield of a midnight breakfast the night before finals began, but due to issues with behavior and alcohol consumption, the event was done away with last year, as previously reported on by The Mirror.
An email from Domenick Laperuta ‘20, the Senior Resident Assistant of 47 Mahan Rd., Meditz Hall, Kostka Hall, Faber Hall and The Barnyard Manor, was sent out to students living in his area, reading that, “After a year without Midnight Breakfast gave us the Christmas Blues, the staff… are working overtime as Santa’s helpers to make sure we all can get in the Christmas Spirit, with the return of Midnight Breakfast.”
Due to the large number of students living in that area, the seating was limited in the Faber Dining Commons so the email with the RSVP link was sent out to all seniors living in the area first before the spots were opened up to underclassmen.
Students were happy to learn about this Midnight Breakfast event, but Senior Area Coordinator Niquita Dietrich clarified via email that, “this event is not a resurrection of a previous event.”
“There were other ‘midnight breakfasts’ in the past, others may also be doing them this year, and I do not want anyone to be under the misapprehension that this event is any more significant than the other residential or campus programs being offered,” Dietrich said. “The only real difference is that due to the size of the area, we require more advanced planning and logistics,” she continued.
“I didn’t mind that it was in Faber because the room was wicked nice and decorated,” said Grace Coulliard ‘22 via electronic message. “And it was so big, so I think that it was definitely the best place to have it.”
The event worked in 3 shifts in order to allow the highest number of students possible to attend. The shifts were 30 minutes long and began at 10 p.m. with a ten minute buffer time for cleaning and setting up.
Upon signing in students received a place card for a specific table based on the number of guests in their party. After finding their seat, they were directly served plates of pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and tater tots by the RAs from the area who were working the event. There was also a hot chocolate bar available for students to serve themselves, as well as orange juice and water.
Aside from the festive decorations, there was Christmas music loudly playing from the speakers in the room, and the RAs danced and sang after serving the food and tried to get the guests into the spirit and to join them.
“The Midnight Breakfast was a great and relaxing study break! The RAs were extremely enthusiastic about making sure all of us enjoyed the event,” said Matthew Gerbo ‘22.
The initial email from Laperuta contained some rules and expectations for the event based upon some of the issues that arose in the past.
“Will you be able to stand on a table? No, that’s dirty. Will you be able to stand on a chair?
Yes! As long as you’re safe,” were the two rules that stuck out most to students.
As it turned out, it was not only permitted to dance on chairs but encouraged. The RAs were urging students to get up and dance on the chairs, as they walked around joining the individual tables and handing out Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards to those students that displayed the most energy.
“I thought the Midnight Breakfast was a great way to have time to just destress with finals coming up. The people working it had so much energy, which really allowed me and my friends to forget about all of our upcoming work for a little bit,” said Caroline Murray ‘22.
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