DAN QUAGLIANA
News Editor
Every year, SUNY Fredonia’s annual Homecoming and Family and Friends weekends bring hundreds of visitors to the campus.
Homecoming weekend, which was hosted from Oct. 20 – 23, featured a cornucopia of events that were specifically designed to bring alumni back to Fredonia. Some of these events included a 60th anniversary celebration of the Department of Geology, the 20th anniversary of the 1970s Reunion Jazz Ensemble, a Homecoming Pep Rally in the Steele Hall fieldhouse and reunions for the classes of 1973 and 1993.
The Pep Rally was the centerpiece event of the weekend, and it was described as “a really fun event” by Rachel Martin, the associate director of Campus Life. “The [exciting] tradition of crowning Homecoming royalty always wraps up the event,” she said.
This year’s Homecoming royalty winners were Nizell Bruce and Dakota Richter, and the runners-up were Mae Heckathorne and Tahaani St. Bernard.
“It was really nice to see all these clubs and other students come out and support each other,” said Dan Granados, a junior double major in audio production and video production. “The activities there were creative and fun, and all the student performances were great.”
The following weekend, Campus Life coordinated events for Family and Friends Weekend, which ran from Oct. 27 – 29. Events on that weekend were targeted more towards, aptly enough, families of current students to come and experience everything that the campus has to offer.
The weekend was kicked off by a welcome dinner on Oct. 27 in the Williams Center, and events seemed to exponentially multiply from there.
“The welcome dinner was new this year, as we haven’t had a dinner in 10 years or more,” Martin said. “FSA did a wonderful job with the catering and Dr. Jill Reese hosted mixtape bingo. There was even a surprise rock band consisting of Fredonia administration [members]. [Campus Life] look[s] forward to planning [it again] for next year!”
Prominent activities around campus that weekend included Fredonia Radio Systems’ Great Ghostly Games, Fredonia Immersive Theater’s Terror in the Trees and Spectrum’s Fall Fun.
“The Great Ghostly Games is an annual event that includes a scavenger hunt around Fredonia’s campus,” Granados, Fredonia Radio Systems’ business manager, said. “It turned out great! With it being held during Family and Friends Weekend, we saw a lot of unfamiliar faces who had a lot of fun.”
Terror in the Trees is an annually held guided tour through the campus woodlot, with members of Immersive Theater portraying Halloween creatures and acting out scenes in a nightmarish fashion.
Fall Fun is an event that was planned to be the tonal opposite of that. Another annual event, but this time held in the Williams Center’s Multi-Purpose Room, Spectrum Entertainment plans Fall Fun to have many activities that can be enjoyed by families of all ages.
“It included snacks such as donuts and apple cider,” said Rowan Potzler, Spectrum’s treasurer. “There was also an airbrush tattoo guy … and a family photo booth. We had several stuff-a-bears [stuff-it-yourself stuffed animals] that families could choose from. The many Halloween events happening around campus led to a lot of people coming in and out of the Williams Center at the time. Overall, [the] vibes seemed really cool!”
Martin said that, “Many new events [were] hosted by clubs and departments, [but we also saw] some returning events and traditions. Family and Friends Weekend was a great success!”
Dan Granados, who was interviewed in this article, is the business manager of The Leader.