Fall Fest: Bridging the gap between students and staff
By Jasmine White
Music coasted down the walkway alongside the Campus Green, as 13 different campus partners tabled for the Fall Fest and Resource Fair collaboration on Oct. 28.
The Student Government Association hosted this year’s fair with tunes courtesy of 107.7 The Bronc, bringing a welcoming atmosphere to those passing by. Senior communications major and Vice President of Student Affairs Cassaundra Alicea and junior finance major and Vice President of University Affairs Sara Rupani worked together to execute their plans for the fair.
“I feel like it’s been a great platform for students to come by for everything fall-related and resource related,” Alicea said. “We made it a goal in mind to work with our committees [such as the different] student organizations and club committees.”
Vice President for Student Affairs Nick Barbarti handed out cranberry T-shirts from Cranberry Fest and educated the community about the job of student affairs.
“We like to make sure students are involved and build community around campus, but then we’re also there to support students when they’re going through a struggling time,” Barbati said. “We are here to really help support them at the various different stages of their college career.”
There was a bit of a slow beginning considering the start time of the event was 11 a.m., but as classes ended and it got closer to noon, a vast amount of students and faculty flooded the tables and activity stations.
The SGA offered a table for an arrangement of sweet treats such as cupcakes, cookies and candies accompanied by glasses of apple cider offered by Alicea and Rupani’s table.
Activities included a “paint a pumpkin” station, a table for Halloween related games and a table for passersby to create their own beaded jewelry from a collection of colorful beads and other materials.
Keeler Robinson, sales and service specialist tabled for Fulton Bank, explaining the benefits that the entity entails. The bank has been a partner of Rider Athletics for about a year. It offers students a free start to opening a checking account.
“We are offering a Rider University debit card with the Broncs logo on the debit card,” Robinson said. “It’s a good way to show school spirit and school pride.”
Public Safety tabled toward the front of the line of organizations, opening the floor to conversation regarding parking questions and safety on campus, along with trinkets and safety items up for grabs.
“We want to be out in the community, so people you know become more familiar with what services we do offer,” Director of Public Safety Matthew Babcock said.
The Counseling Center, the Academic Success Center and the Special Accessibility and Support Services offered pamphlets, candies and stress fidget toys for people to become more acclimated about what their roles are on campus.
In turn, Residence Life Association, the Office of International Education and the Office of Admissions drew in attention from a mass of students regarding how they can get more involved on campus and the study abroad opportunities offered through them.
During the fair, students, faculty and staff opened the lines of communication to connect on a more conversational level to bring about comfortability.
“You’ll notice it’s not just very serious conversations, it’s very casual and it’s a really fun time,” Rupani said.
Journey New is a social media editor for The Rider News and is the student organizations committee chair for SGA. They had no part in the writing or editing of this story.
