Fall is finally in the air, you can practically smell it! The air is crisper, the foliage is brighter, and along with the comfy sweaters and pumpkin spice that this season brings comes what is arguably the biggest event of the semester hosted by Brooklyn College’s student government, Brooklyn College S.A.I.L and student affairs offices: the Fall Fest.
If you walked through the West Quad campus at around 9 am on October 29, you could see stacks of tables lining the pathways, a crew of people scattered throughout the grass giving orders and moving different pieces around, and trucks being unloaded. A typical freshman or transfer student might’ve wondered what exactly was going on so early on a Tuesday morning, but come 12:30pm the quad was filled with festivities as the Fall Fest descended upon us. From 12:30-2:30, the West Quad campus was filled with color, music and fun.
Despite the efforts of Mother Nature all morning, the event seemed as great as ever. Features included laser tag, rock climbing, free food, and a pie throwing booth in which the victim was a USG members all drew smiles from the crowd.
The event was pushed by USG President Alyssa Taylor and put together by volunteers within USG, “I wasn’t part of USG last year, I attended the fest as a student, but looking around the campus, every brightly colored orange shirt represents someone that took time out of their day to make sure everyone had fun,” said Junior Michael Davis, who is a first year USG Senator.
While lines of people awaited free lunch and activities, some students look forward to the event every year. “It’s a lot of fun,” said second year BC Crystal, one such student. “Everyone in the college community comes together to have fun, play games, and obviously for the free food.”
For this year’s event, an emphasis was put on donations. In the spirit of the giving mood of the season, advertisements of donating nonperishable items and toiletries circulated around to the BC community before the event. Everything from flyers on community boards throughout the halls and Instagram posts, the word to donate got out.
Any donation of five or more items would allow a chance for the one who donates to win a prize of $50 or more, something that student government is hoping will entice most to students to participate in, helping to give back to the community.
“All donations given in today will be going towards the Brooklyn College Pantry along with all perishables that are collected from across the neighborhood will go to the pantry to help those in need,” said Davis. .
Another highlight of the day along with rides, food and fun came USG promos and giveaways. Tables set up in the center of the quad gave students a chance to grab some free school merchandise. Some of the items included Brooklyn Bulldogs winter hats and gloves.
Not everyone quite thought they would enjoy the festivities, “Originally, I thought it was going to be super lame because I was here when they were setting up and it looked like the rain had just washed out all of the fun that was going to be had, but I was pleasantly surprised, they actually pulled it off,” said freshman Alanna Kroening.
Students seemed to have enjoyed the 2019 Fall Fest. Regardless of the rain, the students made the best of their time and proved that a little drizzle can’t stop BC students from having a good time!