Three years ago, when members of the class of 2004 were freshmen, Fairfield said goodbye to the longstanding tradition of the Luau, a widespread fall beach party much like Clam Jam. But as Spam Jam went on, there was no comparable fall on-campus activity in lieu of Luau.
All that changed this year. Thanks to the efforts of UNITE, RASOR and the townhouse and apartment managers, Saturday’s “Block Party” was an encouraging event which bodes well for the university community as a whole.
Yes, attendance wasn’t all that it could have been. Yes, off-campus students weren’t allowed in. But last week’s party was an important step in building the sort of community of which Fairfield could be proud. As huge beach parties become a thing of the past, Fairfield should encourage more on-campus activities like the Block Party. As word of mouth builds from event to event, low attendance will rapidly cease to be a problem.
According to Residence Area Coordinator Alexis Bivens, one more Block Party is planned this semester, with two more next spring. The Mirror applauds these plans wholeheartedly. On any college campus, alcohol consumption is a touchy issue. With the administration showing that they can encourage legal and responsible alcohol use-and with students showing that they can handle these responsibilities-we firmly believe that irresponsible alcohol use will go down as a result.
Still, not everything went perfectly. Advertising for last week’s party wasn’t impressive, which in large part explains the relatively low attendance. And making the party a little longer wouldn’t have hurt either. But such problems are easy to fix, and will hopefully be remedied by the time of the next event.
Only two days into October, with another Block Party already being planned this month, we are sincerely excited for the coming year, and only hope more student organizations take the initiative displayed by UNITE and RASOR. If more programs like last week’s Block Party are planned, Fairfield could deal a staggering blow to the ongoing apathy problem.
The editorial represents the opinion of the majority of The Mirror Editorial Board. What is your opinion? Write to us: commentary@fairfieldmirror.com
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