The last day of the semester is that wonderful day when classes are over, finals are looming in the not-so-distant future and Midnight Breakfast occurs, the annual event that is always looked forward to by students.
Fairfield’s 15th Annual Midnight Breakfast will be held in the John A. Barone Main Dining Room on Dec. 12.
This year, all Midnight Breakfast seatings sold out within a half hour of when they were put up for sale — both for seniors on Dec. 5 and for the other three classes on Dec. 6.
Senior Jennie Chieco tried to get her ticket at 8:20 a.m. on Dec. 5, but quickly found out that it was sold out.
While Chieco understands that the Main Dining Hall cannot accommodate more students, she said, “I think all seniors should get tickets because it is their last year to attend.”
A total of 1,500 tickets were sold. Five hundred per seating and 370 per class year, with an additional 20 tickets being sold to graduate students.
Despite many students being unable to get tickets, this year’s Midnight Breakfast is set to have the highest attendance of all time, according to the Program Coordinator of the Office of Student Engagement Elizabeth Elliott ’15.
Along with this unique attribute, this year’s Midnight Breakfast has undergone some other changes as well.
One of the changes occurring will be the three seatings, at 8 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m., according to Elliott, as opposed to the two seatings last year at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Some students believe that there should be a midnight seating, as the event is called Midnight Breakfast.
“I think there should be a midnight seating because it offers more opportunity for people to be able to go,” said Ro-Anna Thomas ‘17. “I think having an eleven and then a twelve gives more options for late night [activities] and it opens up more room for people who didn’t get a chance to go.”
However, Assistant Vice President of Administration and Student Affairs James Fitzpatrick feels that earlier seatings are more convenient for the majority of students.
“When we first started [Midnight Breakfast] in 2002, we found that people with exam schedules and student life just didn’t want it that way.”
According to Elliott, “The goal of having three seatings is to alleviate students having to wait in line and to maximize the number of students that we can serve in one night. While students will still file up to the Main Dining Room via the Oak Room, there are only enough tickets being supplied for each seating as there are seats in Barone.”
Elliott explained that the purpose of the additional seating time is so students can reach the Main Dining Room more quickly and not have to be asked to leave as soon as they finish eating, as no one will be waiting to take their spot.
“This way, everyone can have the full Midnight Breakfast experience,” said Elliott.
Additionally, this year’s Midnight Breakfast will be hosted by DJ Projo, according to the promotional material for the event.
Projo has acted as the official DJ of the Fairfield Stags for three seasons, according to Elliott. Along with working crowds of as large as 10,000 people at Webster Bank Arena for Fairfield basketball games and his own “Celebrity Birthday Experience” concert featuring 2 Chainz and Chris Webby in February 2016, Projo was also the opening act for Lil Dicky at Fairfield University Student Association’s Fall Concert and Red Sea Madness this year.
Projo, who is from Connecticut, is the producer of International Sundays on Hot 93.7FM, the Executive Music Director of the Bridgeport Bluefish and he supplied the soundtrack to Bandaloop, an event that happened on campus in September.
“I’m confident that DJ Projo can keep the energy going in the Main Dining Room, playing those classic songs that so many are looking forward to hearing,” commented Elliott.
According to Elliott, there will also be more formal programming than in past years. Students will be given the opportunity to compete in the Ugly Sweater Contest, the Holiday Lip Sync Competition and compete for limited edition Midnight Breakfast T-shirts during the event in the Main Dining Room. Since there will be more time for students to remain at the event, they will have time to eat, as well as do these activities.
The menu is also updated due to feedback received after last year’s Midnight Breakfast, according to Elliott.
According to Fitzpatrick, bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, croissant egg and cheese sandwiches and tater tots are among the additions. Also, instead of large containers of orange juice, there will be small orange juice cups and bulk ketchup rather than ketchup packets.
Elliott predicted that Midnight Breakfast will be a success as it always was in past years.
“Midnight Breakfast is one of those traditional Fairfield events that students remember for years to come, which is one of the main reasons it is so popular,” Elliot stated. “The event gets everyone — students, faculty, staff, administration and alumni — in the holiday spirit and allows for the Fairfield University community to come together, to spread holiday cheer and to share in a fun and engaging experience.”
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