Fall festivities puts Hopkins students in the seasonal spirit
|
Attendance rebounded after lower-than-expected turn out last year, thanks to better weather, innovations in advertising, funding and new ideas.
Coordinator of Campus Programming Rachel Navarre attributed the good attendance to the better weather, advertising and events.
Unlike last year, which was affected by the dismal conditions attributed to Hurricane Kyle, this weekend was both warm and sunny - qualities that no doubt encouraged the high attendance of events held outdoors.
Theses events began on Thursday with Pub Night at Nolans, one of two events in which free Fall Fest shirts were given away.
Although it was one of the least attended activities of the weekend - with only 150 students in attendance - the Charles Common's hot spot was still crowded with students participating in trivia night and taking advantage of the low-cost beer.
In addition to e-mails, posters, and a Facebook event, a week before the seasonal activities began, the Student Life Office decorated the Homewood campus with 500 stalks of corn in order to, "generate a buzz about the event," Navarre said.
"I did make some changes to this year's schedule in hopes of making the weekend more 'fall-friendly,'" she added.
These changes included the addition of a haunted house to the weekend's itinerary along with the elimination of the traditional beach barbeque.
Although it was a favorite of some students, the barbeque's elimination allowed funds to shift to such events as the midnight breakfast, held from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday night.
With more funding, the breakfast was able to feed 1,000 students instead of the previous 600, making the meal in the Fresh Food Cafe the highest-attended event of the weekend.
The high outcome of students was anticipated and more than the usual late-night staff were on duty to assist in the event's success. The increased attendance did, however, make the lines for food long even though there were the two separate stations of breakfast food.
Despite the wait, sophomore Yera Jeong said, "It was nice to sit around with friends and talk about FFC memories from freshman year."
On Friday, the previous night, 350 students came out to the beach to watch the high-grossing summer comedy, The Hangover.
Chemical and Biomedical Engineering major Cameron Hudson enjoyed the choice of film and said he, "was pleased that they showed the uncensored edition because American society tends to fear nudity."
The movie was shown on a large project screen and students gathered on blankets and against bales of straw. The free apple cider helped to create the fall atmosphere even though the temperature was incredibly warm for an October evening.
As part of the Friday Night Film series, the HOP put on the film, "as a joint effort with Fall Fest," according to senior Dea Lovy, co-chair of the HOP.
"It was fantastic; the beach was packed," she said.
At the same time on Friday evening, the HOP also ran the HOPtoberfest on the Freshman Quad. The event consisted of the festive pumpkin-painting opportunities and pie-eating contests.
"Some people even threw up. I guess two pies were too much," Lovy said of the pie-eating contest.
"There were no more pumpkins for pumpkin-painting by the end of the night," she continued, speaking of the high turnout.
Senior Chris Mihalsky, the other co-chair of the HOP, said of the the event, "[We] got more than we expected."
Both Mihalsky and Lovy attribute the high attendance to the strong advertising while Lovy also said that it, "has a lot to do with this incoming freshman class. They're very interested in getting involved."
"We haven't done much with Fall Fest in the past," Mihalsky said. "As a group, I think the HOP will have a bigger and bigger part in it."
After the movie and HOPtoberfest, the haunted house, which was co-sponsored by the RAB, opened. A 1,500 square foot structure on the Freshman Quad, the haunted house was the second-highest attended event of the weekend.
Even though the line to enter was long, sophomore Stephanie Amalfe commented that "[It] went fairly quick and the anticipation of going in made it fun. It was the novelty of the haunted house that made the experience worthwhile and put you officially in the Halloween spirit."
On Saturday, events included a tailgate, career networking mixer, tent party and casino night, as well as the popular midnight breakfast.
Before the men and women's soccer double-header, students gathered at the Athletic Circle for free hotdogs and hamburgers.
The Young Alumni Association helped to put on the mixer and the 21-and-older tent party. More successful than those events, though, was casino night. Later that evening, 200 students showed up in the Glass Pavillion for an evening of roulette, craps, poker and blackjack.
The weekend's events appealed to sports fans, movie fans, students looking for free food, and those looking to celebrate school spirit; in short, the activities appealed to all branches of the Hopkins student body.
Lovy noted that there are hopes that the Fall Fest will become, "not the 'new Spring Fair,' but the equivalent."
Navarre said that "the changes were positive" and that she "plan[s] to implement them next year."
These improvements in the event contributed to Fall Fest's popularity as it celebrated the autumn season and student life at Hopkins.
Be the first to comment on this story