THE MIRROR Independent student newspaper
Week of September 21, 2022
Vol. 49 Iss. 1
Students Roar with Excitement for Pres Ball By Madison Gallo Executive Editor
Madeline West / The Mirror
Madeline West / The Mirror
Newly constructed Townhouse 16 block. Move-in for students living in Townhouse 16 block was delayed until last Friday, Sept. 16.
Prior to Townhouse 16 Block’s completion, students had the option to stay in the Conference Center on-campus or the Trumbull Marriott.
Townhouse 16 Block Residents Frustrated After Move-In Delay By Madeline West Editor-in-Chief
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On September 16, students who were assigned the residence of Townhouse 16 Block were able to move in after a delay in construction, pushing back their move in date. On August 23, 2022, student residents planning to move into Townhouse 16 Block were notified by the Office of Residence Life that “there was an unexpected construction delay that could affect your ability to move in on-time.” Further, the email said if a delay was to occur students would be placed at the Conference Center on campus or the Trumbull Marriott hotel until their permanent residence was ready. On August 26, a follow up was sent by ResLife in which they gave “confirmation that the new units will be ready for student move-in by September 16.” Senior and Junior students were set to move in on September 5 with classes to begin on September 6 for all years according to the 2022-23 academic calendar. In addition to the temporary stay, ResLife expressed in an email sent to students that they would provide “reimbursement for mileage/gas, food/meal plan no cost option, laundry pick up and drop off, [and] move in/out assistance.” Also, on September 17 from 12-2 p.m. there was a “special move-in party” for the students and their families who had to move in. According to a Mirror article the construction for the new Townhouse blocks began in early 2021. Students residing in Townhouse 16 Block expressed their experience during the delay and their temporary stays either
at the hotel or Conference Center. Ceci Hall ‘24 is living in the new Townhouse block. Due to the delay, she was temporarily living in the Trumbull Marriott hotel. Hall expressed frustration for the situation since she “knew there were other renovations going on around campus so I was frustrated that our townhouses were not prioritized and were finished last.”
We had sent numerous emails and phone calls to ResLife and were always met with vague answers that always said ‘we’re expecting them to be ready’ and we only heard about the reality 10 days before moving in.” - Caroline Murray ‘24
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Hall continues to say that she understood there are construction delays and does “appreciate Fairfield providing me with a hotel to stay in and the meal plan has been nice, I think they were generous with that.” However, she “wished they had told us sooner that our townhouses wouldn’t be finished.” With regards to her experience in the hotel, Hall “[hasn’t] minded the temporary housing and
I’ve enjoyed my hotel room. However, it has been stressful dealing with the workday traffic commute in the mornings on my way to class.” She attests to her personal experience on the first day of class, “ I was late to my first class the first night after staying in the hotel because I was not expecting all the traffic.” With regards to compensation, Hall mentions how ResLife originally offered reimbursement in the form of gas– yet, she has not received it. Additionally, Hall states “we did receive a meal plan, however, there have been times where I have been at my hotel and didn’t want to drive all the way back to campus for a meal so I have had to buy my own [food].” Similarly, Caroline Murray ‘24 is another Townhouse 16 Block resident. She resided in the Conference Center until September 16. With regards to communication with ResLife on the delay, Murray says the confirmation on August 26 was “incredibly frustrating as we had visited campus and seen the active construction all summer between the eight of us and speculated that it wouldn’t be ready for September 5th.” Murray continues to say, “We had sent numerous emails and phone calls to ResLife and we’re always met with vague answers that always said 'we're expecting them to be ready’ and we only heard about the reality 10 days before moving in.” When asked about the reimbursements such as gas mileage and laundry services, Murraay states that, “ They [ResLife] also gave us free laundry service, but only for one day.”
The Fair f ield University Student Association will host the 2022 Presidential Ball Sept. 30 from 8 to 11 p.m. on the Bellarmine Lawn. For the first time since 2019, this event will be a singular event for all class years, as per a Sept. 14 email from FUSA. The theme of this year’s event is “Great Gatsby at Fairfield.” This year there were 2,800 tickets available to the Fairfield undergraduate community. This number was determined based on an analysis of previous years’ attendance in combination with health and safety standards, according to FUSA President Jordan Gale ‘23. Tickets went on sale for the Class of 2023 on Sept. 18 at 5 p.m. while tickets for all other classes went on sale at 5 p.m. on Sept. 17. The event sold out at 7:15 p.m. Students without tickets interested in attending can join the waitlist, which can also be found in the @fusa47 Instagram bio. Though the waitlist currently has “around 150 students” as of 6:20 p.m. on Sept. 20, according to Gale, the 2,800 attendee cap will remain. The Class of 2024 purchased the least amount of tickets with 585 bought, while the Class of 2026 bought the most with 819 tickets purchased. The Class of 2023 and 2025 bought 687 and 706 tickets, respectively, according to FUSA. Last year, Pres Ball returned after not occurring for two years due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Taking into account the University’s different mitigation strategies, Pres Ball 2021 was a two-part affair: the Classes of 2024 and 2025 had an earlier event from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., while the Classes of 2022 and 2023 had their event from 10 p.m. until midnight, according to
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a September 2021 Mirror article. Both events were held on Bellarmine Lawn, as per tradition. Students shared excitement and their experience purchasing tickets. Senior Tess Morrissey expressed her excitement stating, “I am so excited about Pres Ball this year. The last time I attended was my freshman year in the Fall of 2019 and I had such a blast.” Morrissey continued, “because of the pandemic I am so excited for full normalcy this year!” Junior Matthew Delaney commented, “The ticketing process for me went well, I didn’t need to wait in a line as I just logged into my account…and bought my ticket, easy as that.” Delaney also stated that, “Pres Ball has always been an absolute blast of an event that’s held by the University. They do a great job with the event, the music, dancing, and taking photos with friends, all of it is just a great time and I can’t wait for it on September 30!” Sophomore Christopher Pozzuto said he felt as though the new system for ticketing evEnue, “was a good addition for the school because all the events are organized in one place instead of navigating to get tickets through emailed events.” Pozzuto continues, “I ended up getting tickets 20 minutes after they went on sale. I am looking forward to Pres Ball especially since last year they split up the classes. I believe FUSA will make this event memorable for everyone, especially the first year students.” Sophomore Samantha Flores explained her experience purchasing tickets stating, “it was stressful because we knew it was limited tickets and the site was taking forever to load so I kind of accepted that I wasn’t going to get a ticket, which was upsetting CONTINUED ON WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.COM
Photo Courtesy of @fusa47 Instagram
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