The University of Connecticut’s Off-Campus and Commuter Student Services Department is hosting its annual Fall Festival on Wednesday, Oct. 27 in Student Union room 104.
The event, which began around four years ago, is usually held on the Carriage House Lawn, located on Hunting Lodge Road, but was moved to the Union because of weather concerns.
The Fall Festival’s formation was a proactive approach by OCCSS to celebrate off-campus and commuter students while also helping them make responsible choices, particularly on busy Halloween weekends. OCCSS’s goal is to educate students on a variety of resources prior to this weekend, such as safe alcohol use.
“Your number one job is to be a UConn student and the rest comes after,” said the Assistant Director for OCCSS, Ashley O’Connell, on a video call. She has been with OCCSS since its founding in 2008.
It’s a social event where students can enjoy themselves with refreshments, paint pumpkins and engage with members of the UConn Fire and Police Departments, Student Health and Wellness (SHaW), Sexperts Program, Center for Career Development, Alcohol and Other Drug Education, Nutrition and some UConn Pack Leaders. There will be a resume critique workshop offered by the CCD.
On the same video call, the Director of OCCSS, John Armstrong, said he wants the Fall Festival event to help students become knowledgeable about what they’re engaging in so they can have fun and avoid negative consequences.
“We’ve made some tweaks since our first event four years ago, and then we have continued to adjust where needed. What we have is a pretty solid event which helps students make good choices and decisions and feel that sense of fall fun,” Armstrong said. “We want this to have a lighthearted vibe to it where students feel comfortable talking about being safe.”