As the leaves begin to turn and temperatures continue to drop, Fairfield students eagerly await what has become an almost sacred, end-of-semester tradition: SantaCon. In a little more than a month’s time, ugly sweaters, reindeer onesies and bright red Santa hats will start pouring in through Amazon lockers and Reef Road mailboxes as students prepare themselves for another year of this iconic Fairfield event. Seniors still remember their first SantaCon which saw its reintroduction after a pandemic that shut down much of what made the university unique.
While many remember the event fondly, it has continued to be overshadowed by the overwhelming influx of non-Fairfield students flooding the beach and stretching the town’s resources thin. Since that day, the university and town residents have begun cracking down on gatherings both on and off-campus for fear of the same backlash they faced in 2021. This has proven to be especially disappointing for seniors. For many, they have spent the last three years waiting eagerly to experience life on the beach and the unique opportunities that come with it. Whether it be the freedom that comes with having a space of their own, living a stone’s throw from the shore or being right in the heart of the action during big beach gatherings, the image of senior life off campus has always been enticing. This year though, many seniors feel that reality does not line up with what they had hoped. An increased G-Force and security presence on Lantern Point, especially during the first few weekends of the semester, has signaled to Fairfield students that the university is doing what it can to shut down large gatherings in any form.
Is this fair to students, though? Most think not. With the limiting of student participation at big events like SantaCon and Sham Jam, many students view the university’s actions as an unjust punishment for the behavior of a minority of attendees.
“I think the students deserve this moment,” Danny Mayo ‘25 argued, “especially the seniors who, four years ago, had their senior year of high school drastically affected as well.” He explained that SantaCon and events like it serve to bring the student body together in a way that nothing else can. In many ways, Mayo’s sentiments are shared by every Fairfield student.
Hoping to prove to the Fairfield administration that students are responsible enough to have an unrestricted SantaCon this semester, the senior class has been making a concerted effort to keep the beach clean and hold gatherings that remain peaceful and respectful of the community. One of the biggest concerns voiced by the university and community members has been littering on public beaches during these gatherings. To resolve this issue, the senior class has organized weekly beach clean-ups every Sunday and on mornings after other beach gatherings. To ease concerns about noise, they have also begun hosting the weekly NAUT events a half hour earlier to avoid disturbing their non-student neighbors at the beach.
For many, there isn’t a desire to have massive parties on the beach three days a week for the entire school year like the university seems to think. More important to the student body is the chance to continue the tradition of SantaCon and the amazing social environment that it creates.
“We’ve been doing these clean-ups,” Vincent Dinapoli ‘25, noted succinctly, “let us have Santacon.”
If these actions of the senior class are not enough to prove that SantaCon can be well-managed, let Parents Weekend serve as a more direct example. Two days of gatherings at the beach, Lantern Point and other student houses went off without a hitch. Trash was effectively managed, large groups of students and their guests were respectful of Fairfield residents and the weekend was a massive success. While students and administrators alike recognize that a pointed effort must be made to ensure that an event like SantaCon is able to occur safely and with respect to the community, this year’s seniors have proven that this is a responsibility they can handle. Without the ability to take part in events like SantaCon, Fairfield loses one of the pieces that makes it quintessentially Fairfield. The more the university infringes, the more student life is fundamentally damaged. For the sake of Fairfield students, we could not imagine a year without a SantaCon.
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