by Rachelle Robley
About 50 freshmen students gathered on the BJ lawn and inside BJ and Stewart on Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. to celebrate the onset of the fall season.
Freshmen students were thrilled to see pies being thrown at President Beck Taylor’s face continuously for about thirty minutes at the first annual Freshmen Fall Fest. Money collected from the pie throwing went toward donations for the Spokanimals foundation.
“We liked face-pieing Snickers,” said freshman Joshua Standridge and Dominic Chiabotti. Although he was on the receiving end, freshman Eamonn Eppinga-Neff said he enjoyed the face pie booth.
Students bonded through games of volleyball and frisbee played on the grass. But even more students swing- and line-danced to country music played loudly in front of BJ. At one point, everyone line danced to “Cotton Eyed Joe” by Rednex.
“I’m from a country town, so I loved the country music playing and instructing the swing dancing. It reminded me of where I’m from,” freshman Taylor Hillmick said.
Other activities, such as sack races, jump roping, face painting and apple bobbing occurred throughout the night. People were brave enough to bob for apples, even though the night was chilly and the water was freezing cold.
In the Stewart lounge, students decorated pumpkins, ate caramel apples and drank apple cider.
Pictures taken at the event were tagged with the hashtag #freshmenfallfest to be shared on Instagram and were played as a slideshow in the middle of the BJ lounge. Students were also able to have their pictures taken with a variety of fall themed props, such as farmer straw hats, pumpkins and autumn leaves.
“I like how Whitworth tries to get students involved. It can be hard to find things to do, but the Whitworth events are always comfortable and accessible,” freshman Amy Cheng said.
The event was intended for freshmen only, so there was a feeling of familiarity and students seemed very comfortable with each other in knowing they were all in the same boat.
“Having this freshmen-only event opens communication and relatability. We can get to know freshmen from other dorms,” Cheng said.
The main attraction of the night was the puppies, brought by the animal rescue organization Power of the Paw. Students sat in two circles in the BJ lounge and enjoyed puppies jumping and kissing them.
“I loved the puppies, almost too much. I had to get away from them. The fluffy one was my favorite,” Hillmick said.
After a week of stressful midterms, there was a general consensus that loving from cute puppies was exactly what everyone needed. Overall, freshmen loved coming together from different dorms after a stressful time to get to know each other and participate in fall activities.