As a means of providing an alternate activity for students, primarily underclassmen, not able to purchase tickets to Clam Jam, Quad Jam was organized by the collaborative efforts of the Fairfield University Student Association, Student Involvement and Fairfield @ Night.
The event, which took place on April 25, included free food, crafts, games and inflatables such as an obstacle course and human foosball.
According to Colleen Wilson, ‘11, program coordinator for Student Programs & Leadership Development, the event was held to give students unable to attend Clam Jam something to look forward to for the weekend.
“We figured it would get a lot of traffic in the Quad. Spring Fest was really successful last weekend, and used the same space, so it was a good choice for the event,” said Wilson.
Freshman Troy Trauger agreed that the initial idea of Quad Jam was a great idea. “I thought it would be just like Spring Fest – there would be games, food, tons of people and activities,” said Trauger.
However, what many students experienced was very different than the expectations noted by the facilitators. Freshman Caitlyn Dour thought that the event did not receive as much attendance as it should have.
“I was upset no one went, but it wasn’t really a hyped-up event, and felt like a repeat of the previous weekend. Plus, a lot of kids had already made plans to go home or do other things for the weekend,” said Dour.
Other students did not feel that the event had enough activities to occupy students. Freshman John Nikas felt that the event’s low attendance was due to a lack of activities.
“There wasn’t much to do there. I suppose the weather wasn’t the best that day, but it was pretty much dead. If it was a ploy to make up for Clam Jam, we should get a separate, well-planned day,” said Nikas.
It was also noticed that the event wasn’t being organized by various student organizations on campus. “The most disappointing thing was the lack of involvement people had for the event. It didn’t have the same community feel as Spring Fest,” said Trauger.
In response to student feedback for the event, FUSA Director of Programming Connor Goz ‘17 noted that the event was different than originally planned.
“One challenge for this event was that it was put together fairly quickly. We actually had an entirely different event organized before finding out that the company we were using for it had the wrong date and could no longer do that. Hopefully next year we’ll just have to plan one event and be able to start planning it earlier.”
However, the students that attended enjoyed many of the available activities, in particular the inflatable games. “I really liked the obstacle course and the bungee run course. The human foosball game didn’t make much sense though,” said Dour.
The food provided included free popcorn and hot dogs from Super Duper Weenie. “You can always count on the hot dog truck as being a favorite for students,” said Nikas.
Trauger enjoyed the crafts and activities put on by Fairfield @ Night. “I got to decorate a mug. That was cool. Now I have a sweet mug.”
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