Keg races. 200 Nights. Mock Wedding. The Naut. These events may be unfamiliar to some, but they are annual events and highlights of the social life for Fairfield students who reside on Fairfield Beach every year.
For years, upperclassmen have looked to the Student Beach Resident Association for events and activities, and this year is no exception. One reason is FUSA’s lack of success with on-campus events, according to many of this year’s beach residents.
“SBRA’s events are more geared toward what the students want, not what the university wants,” said beach resident Erica Ropitzky ’04. “I think the activities done by FUSA are geared more towards what looks good to the community and parents, such as bowling or movie nights.”
“Beach residents want booze,” she said. “We are of the drinking age. We want social events that incorporate alcohol.”
Other students have said that they do not frequently attend events sponsored by FUSA.
“I’ve never been to anything by FUSA. I really don’t like to leave the beach to go back to campus,” said Natalie Loucas ’04.
Some beach students referred to the convenience of attending events in their own backyard and organized by other beach residents.
“It’s a convenience thing. I didn’t attend many FUSA activities while on campus anyways. SBRA usually involves alcohol, so that helps,” said Matt Murphy ’04. “I think SBRA activities are well organized, but they are also the same every year, so maybe that makes it easier in terms of organization and popularity.”
Lauren DeSteno ’04, an officer for SBRA and also senior class president, noted the lack of beach resident attendance at FUSA planned events.
“It is a result of FUSA not planning events that students are interested in,” she said. As an officer for both groups, DeSteno has a unique perspective on what works for the two groups.
“It’s sad to say, but no one goes to anything if it’s not a drinking event. And knowing that, it’s hard to plan activities if you aren’t a senior, because a certain percentage of the class has to be over 21,” said DeSteno.
FUSA president Kevin Neubauer said he’s been working to strengthen relations with SBRA and said there will be “somewhat regular meetings between SBRA and FUSA.”
SBRA and FUSA are currently making strides to work together, both to save money and lower costs on ticket prices for events. 200 Nights is an event for all seniors, counting down the nights until graduation. It is being held on Nov. 14, and will be a dinner cruise around New York City. The two organizations are working together to make it successful.
In another effort to appeal to the off campus crowd, FUSA sponsored the Harvest Dance, an old Fairfield tradition that had been missing for the past six years. It was held at Alumni Hall, and offered a beer tent for students 21 years of age.
Both Neubauer and DeSteno hoped that this effort to bring beach students onto campus for events would lead to improved relations between both FUSA and SBRA as well as raise beach residents’ opinions of on campus activities.
Despite these efforts, there was not a high rate of attendance by beach residents. “It was only $10 a person and it had a beer garden. But still none of my friends went,” said beach resident Hallie Ross. “Maybe since it was a semi-formal we were turned off, but I think if SBRA had run it, it would have been more talked-up down here at the beach, and we would have most likely all gone.”
The class council has also been putting in a large effort to offer university sponsored events that will attract beach residents, such as Senior Mug Nights at the Levee. The boat cruise, now being planned in conjunction with SBRA, class dinners, with food and a two hour open bar and a class trip to Boston, featuring a bar crawl and a sporting event, are all events in the works, according to DeSteno.
“We know that there is a large portion of our class that does drink, but there is also a portion that doesn’t. The class council funds are for all seniors, which makes it difficult when planning events because we have to incorporate those students that do drink and those that don’t, and make it an event that is appropriate to be sponsored by Fairfield University,” DeSteno said.
The university is unlikely to host an event, such as Keg Races at the beach, where teams of 10 women gather around a keg and see who can finish it the fastest.
Some students feel that it is the university’s roles and guidelines that turn students off to FUSA activities. “I feel FUSA is more censored and politically correct, where SBRA is run by students with not as much school interaction, so it can push the limits a little more,” said Tom Hansbury ’04, who lives at Fairfield Beach.
“I’m definitely satisfied with the way things have gone so far this year down here at the beach,” said Murphy. “We’re not going to have another Luau, but I think we have all accepted that. It’s definitely not stopping us from making these our glory day!”
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