Another Spring Weekend in the Books!

As quickly as it began, Spring Weekend 2015 has finished here at Rose Hill. This weekend was packed with endless events sponsored and planned by the Campus Activities Board (CAB). All the activities were completely free and welcome to all Fordham students!

Our seats for HONY's presentation

On Thursday, we had an inspirational talk by Brandon Stanton, the photographer and mastermind behind the infamous "Humans of New York" blog. In front of a packed gymnasium, he told Fordham students his life story, with everything from his own college experience to becoming interested in photography. It was an amazing presentation and we were blown away by his kindness. The next night, Solidisco, a DJ group, performed in from a packed crowd. Even though it was cold outside, everyone had a great time celebrating the end of the year.

Saturday was the Twenty One Pilots performance on Martyr's Lawn, right in the middle of campus. The performers were so energetic and crowd-surfed over the pit of students. Josh, the drummer, asked us to hold up his drum while he played on top of us. The lead singer also took turns being lifted up over the crowd. It was an experience that truly none of us will ever forget!

Josh, the drummer for Twenty One Pilots, "drum-surfing" through the crowd

Taking a bow after their performance

After the concert, students dressed up for the annual Under the Tent dance. This year's theme was "The Last Illusion". There was a live band, food and dancing among much else. This spring weekend was one of the best ones yet and continues to be one of the most fun and energetic events on campus!

Kickin' Off Spring Weekend 2015

Spring Weekend is one of the most anticipated events for students at Fordham. It is scheduled for the last weekend before the end of classes, as a final celebration before finals. The programming starts Monday and continues through Sunday. This year’s main events consist of:

Thursday:

Speaker

Brandon Stanton, founder of HONY

Each Thursday night of Spring Weekend, CAB (Campus Activities Board) brings in a speaker for students. This year, Campus Activities Board has gotten Brandon Stanton, founder of the famous social media project, Humans of New York.

Friday:

Rose Hill Rush

Peer Educators hosts a 5K run around campus. Students are invited to run 3 laps around campus to start off Spring Weekend.

Some friends and I after last year's Rose Hill Rush.

DJ

Solidisco

The fun continues Friday night with a selected DJ who performs in the large open parking lot on campus. This performance resembles a rave/club feel. This year's selected DJ is Solidisco.


Saturday:

Concert

Concert on Martyr's Lawn

Saturday afternoon, there is a big concert on Martyr's lawn. It starts with a student opener and then follows with a band Campus Activities Board hires. This year's band is 21 pilots. My freshman year, we had Grouplove and Andy Grammer and my sophomore year we had Cartel, Cold War Kids, and Melker Project.

RHA Under the Tent Dance

Last year's Under the Tent-Kentucky Derby

Saturday night is the annual RHA (Residence Halls Association) Under the Tent Dance. This year's theme is The Last Illusion; Magic & Mystery. The tradition of the dance is that students wait on line outside McGinley about a week before to purchase tickets for the event. The wait can sometimes be long, but the sun is usually shining, so it gets students excited for the weekend!


Sunday:

Comedian

Every Sunday night, Campus Activities Board brings in a comedian to finish off the weekend with some laughs! This year's comedian is Jamie Lee, famous from MTV's girl code.

Jamie Lee

Here's the full week's lineup of this year's events:

A Motley of April Events

Although it was really great to have been able to spend a relaxing spring break at home, I was looking forward to the last event-filled weeks of the spring semester. One of the events that I participated in was being a part of the Holy Week liturgy. As a member of the Schola Cantorum choir, I spent a great deal of my Easter Break and Holy Week rehearsing for Triduum Masses: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil. The rehearsals were tough and filled with challenging music to learn, but all the time that I spent singing with other choir members helped create a bond that got us through the long week. I also had the privilege to cantor for the morning prayers—my first time cantering ever. It truly was a blessed week for me to be a part of, and through the intense rehearsals, I began to realize the miracle of Easter and the importance of understanding the sacred meaning of what Holy Week means to me.

Even as an Outreach Ambassador, I got to help out with Spring Preview on April 12^th, 2015—Fordham’s largest open house event for Admitted Students. I cannot even put into words just how beautiful the day was for this event. With clear skies, Fordham students enjoying themselves on Eddie’s Parade (a beloved green spot for students to hang out), and enthusiastic admitted students on campus, it was the perfect ambiance to show off just how beautiful our Rose Hill campus really is and to talk about what makes our college so special. I remember two Spring Previews ago in which I was in this position of trying to make college decisions and I will never forget the student interactions that I had that persuaded me to want to come here and be a part of this community. That is what makes Spring Preview so special and so easy—ambassadors never have a difficult time bragging about how great their college experience is because everyone’s is unique and special to them in their own way!

Me with the Fordham Ram putting some "horn" hand signs during Spring Preview!

After my shift was done, I headed over to Eddie’s and had a mini picnic with friends. It was wondrous being able to get a tan in and see all the other students enjoy themselves outside of studying and class. Later, I got to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day by also attending the University Choir’s Annual Spring Concert to support my friends in it. It was a lovely afternoon filled with glorious music that filled the University Church that complimented the wonderful day.

The beautiful University Church with University Choir and the Bronx Arts Ensemble.

Although the semester is coming to a close end, it is also one of the most eventful times of the year, with admitted students coming to a decision about schools and extracurricular clubs having their annual spring showcases. It goes to show just how much of a variety of activities Fordham has to offer that truly makes it a community open to people with many interests and outlets to express themselves.

Holidays and Concerts at Fordham

Fordham has always been known for its holiday festivities. Every holiday season, both of Fordham’s campuses are decked out in lights, tinsel, and many kinds of holiday decorations. In addition to Fordham’s glorious holiday appearance, the university has many holiday festivities spread out through the month of December. My favorite way to get into the holiday spirit at Fordham is by attending the university’s annual Lessons and Carols Festival. This festival is comprised of two concerts held on both Fordham campuses. It features The Fordham University Choir, The Fordham University Women’s Choir, The Aily/Fordham B.F.A. in Dance Program, and The Bronx Arts Ensemble.

The Lessons and Carols Program Cover

I had the pleasure of attending The Lessons and Carols Festival on both the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses. I really enjoyed the choirs, the dancers, and the orchestra at both performances. The choirs sang beautiful holiday carols, and there were even opportunities for the audience to sing along! My roommate is in the Fordham University Women’s Choir, and seeing her and my other classmates perform was so much fun!

The Fordham University Women's Choir performing at
their Rose Hill Lessons and Carols concert

The Lessons and Carols Festival is one of many examples of the wonderful holiday spirit that Fordham embodies. Getting into the holiday spirit can be very difficult, especially during these stressful weeks before final exams. Going to holiday concerts like Lessons and Carols, and taking time to relax is very important for college students. Fordham does a great job encouraging students to relax, and to take time away from intense final exam studying to enjoy the holidays. I really enjoyed my time at The Lessons and Carols Festival, and I cannot wait to continue to celebrate my holidays at Fordham!

Weekend Update

Fun times hanging out with Roger Williams

Megan McLaughlin

This past weekend, I traveled to Rhode Island to present a paper at a history conference! I had a great time talking to other undergraduate and graduate history majors and finally found some other people as interested in early American trade as I am. Even better-- Fordham's undergraduate research program paid for my travel.

The University Orchestra is full of talented students

Kaitlyn McWha

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Fordham University Orchestra's winter concert. My friend is in the orchestra and plays the cello, so seeing her perform was a lot of fun. Fordham's music program has a lot of opportunities for anyone who sings or plays an instrument. I am so happy that I got to experience a part of Fordham's music program, and I will definitely continue to see more University concerts!

Claire McGonigle

This weekend, I mainly focused on finishing my schoolwork before Thanksgiving break. However, with the basketball season coming to a start, I took some time out of studying to go to the Women’s basketball game against Hofstra with some friends. Fordham won and it was a great night supporting our school and being with my friends!

The Rose Hill Gymnasium is a great place to catch a game

A Day in the Life: Ram Edition

Fordham offers a unique combination of the traditional campus community and the big city; because of this, the typical Fordham student is absurdly busy between classes, extracurricular activities, volunteering, internships, and trips into the other boroughs.  One example: yesterday, I was able to work on a research project, go to class, and see a concert by one of my favorite artists, all in a single day!

Above is a sample gel electrophoresis analysis;
this is one way we study the genes of the monkeys!

I started my day by working in lab for a few hours.  I just started with a conservation genetics project involving black lion tamarins (an endangered species of monkey.) As a biology major hoping to attend medical school, conducting research provides me with invaluable hands-on learning experience—and is so much fun! There are tons of ways to get involved in research at Fordham and not just in traditional science disciplines. Fordham holds an annual research symposium in the spring semester, where students present their projects to peers and faculty. We also publish a student-run journal featuring undergraduate work called the Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal, or FURJ.  For more information, check out Fordham's website for Undergraduate Research!

The black lion tamarin is an endangered species native to Brazil!

From lab, I walked to the Dunkin Donuts across the street from campus for a quick caffeine boost before class.  On Thursdays I only have two classes in the afternoon; first, a music theory course, followed by statistics.  Even though I am a biology major, I am also planning on completing a minor in music—it is fairly easy to incorporate a minor or even a double major during your four years at Fordham, and a large number of students take advantage of this!

Since it was such a beautiful day, I drank my Dunkin on Eddie's,
our main quad on campus, before heading to class!

After class, I had just enough time to grab a salad at the Cosi on campus (yum!) and then caught an Uber cab to West 175^th and Broadway (Uber is a car company with an app you can download that lets you request a driver for your specific location, as well as get an immediate rate quote—super convenient!). My friend and I headed to the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights to see one of my favorite singers, Sam Smith. Just a 15 minute drive from campus, the concert was an awesome way to end the day!

The United Palace Theater was opened in 1930, and has a beautifully ornate, vintage interior!

Sam Smith, or the man with the golden voice, serenading the crowd!