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Sports • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2026
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INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Four Years of History, Only 40 Minutes Away Page 13
Office of Student Employment Celebrates National Student Worker Appreiation Week By KATHLEEN MORRIS Editor-in-Chief
The Office of Student Employment is celebrating National Student Worker Appreciation Week, joining a national effort to recognize students who balance campus employment with academic requirements. Today, community members are encouraged to visit the Information Desk on the third floor of the Barone Campus Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for “Paws-itively Appreciated Wednesday.” The event features a raffle and an opportunity to meet Brody, a certified pet therapy dog. Student workers are also invited to fill out cards to express gratitude for the supervisors who mentor them. Brittany Costantini, the Assistant Director of Student Employment, highlights the community-oriented nature of the week’s events, which aim to foster connections within and beyond the workplace. “It allows students to meet other students and expand their network,” she said. In addition to today’s festivities, the Office of Student Employment is hosting a weeklong raffle and giveaway at the Kelley Center. To extend the fun, there will be an opportunity to win Fairfield swag and play a “Test Your Knowledge” game. Students can visit between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. through April 17 to participate. The larger initiative was established by the National Student Employment Association, which designates the second full week of April to spotlight the essential contributions of student employees and the leaders who uplift them. Maura Hegley, Associate Director of
MIRROR IN A MINUTE
American Red Cross Blood Drive Today By BRENNA BELASCO Associate News Editor
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The Office of Student Employment is housed within the Kelley Center. Students may visit from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the celebratory week to play games and enter a raffle.
Financial Aid at Fairfield University, acknowledges the overarching value of pursuing employment on campus. “It is many of the students’ first jobs and [they go through] all of the steps that they’ll need to do in the real world,” Hegley said. Moreover, she underscores that campus employment offers a vital sense of independence. While some students may assume their earnings are automatically applied to tuition, the office clarifies that these positions provide a direct paycheck. “It makes a difference in them staying here,” Hegley said, noting that many students use their earnings to support themselves or help their families. “They want the experience, and they want the money.” Senior Natalia Adamski works as a Senior Fellow in the Office of Admissions. She describes her on-campus job as “an incredibly rewarding experience.” “Working as a Senior Fellow has given me the opportunity to foster meaningful
relationships with staff, build strong friendships with my peers and play a direct role in shaping the incoming class,” she said. The Office of Student Employment was established two years ago to support students like Adamski, serving as a centralized hub for all campus job resources. This effort is further enhanced by the transition to the Workday platform, where students can browse listings for jobs across a wide range of departments. Ultimately, Costantini and Hegley aim to increase visibility and simplify the process for students seeking on-campus opportunities. “Having it all in one place should really streamline that process for them,” Hegley said. “We’re doing a lot of outreach and trying to get students to know where to go.” As the celebration of National Student Worker Appreciation Week continues, the Office of Student Employment encourages students to visit their website and explore opportunities for the upcoming semester.
The American Red Cross Blood Drive is today, in the RecPlex Field House. The event will run from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. To register to donate, those interested can follow the link on the event post on Life@Fairfield. Donors can give either “Blood” or “Power Red.” Power Red returns most of the plasma and platelets to the donor, after the red blood cells are collected. These donors must meet specific eligibility requirements: be in good health, weigh a minimum of 130 pounds for men and 150 pounds for women, meet height requirements, and have a hemoglobin level of at least 13.3 g/dL. Prospective donors must also have Type A-, B-, or O blood types. In addition to blood donation, students are also able to participate as event volunteer by emailing Campus Ministry.
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Students Unveil the “Stag Share Closet” Initiative Visit fairfieldmirror.com for full article
DATA ANALYSIS
Admissions Data Hints at Enrollment Slowdown BY JULIAN NAZARIO Managing Editor
In two weeks, Fairfield University will have officially finalized its new incoming class, as students across the nation submit their enrollment deposits and commit to a school for their higher education. This year, about 4,500 students were admitted to the university, with the Class of 2030 applicant pool being once again the largest and most selective in university history. With the May 1 deadline approaching, here’s a look at Fairfield’s application, admissions and enrollment numbers over the past decade.
What’s Fairfield's admission rate? This year, 4 in 5 high school students who applied to Fairfield were not accepted to become part of the Class of 2030, marking the most selective applicant pool in the university’s history. “As we [have] grown in national prominence, more students are selecting Fairfield as their first choice,” Cory Unis, Fairfield’s vice president for enrollment, said when the university announced the new class profile at the end of March. The 21% admission rate also represents a 40-percentage-point drop compared to 10 years ago, when the Class of 2020 had a 61% acceptance rate. During the same period, Fairfield has become more selective than Villanova and Fordham and is now the third-most-selective university in the state, behind Yale and Wesleyan University. How many prospective students apply to North Benson? This year, the university received 21,662 applications from students across
49 states, including D.C. and Puerto Rico and 97 countries. In 2016, Fairfield received just over 11,000 applications. Even as applications have more than doubled over the last decade, Fairfield has maintained its test-optional policy and does not require applicants to submit written supplements. Nearly two-thirds of the applications the university received for the incoming class did not include standardized test scores. “Fairfield University evaluates prospective students using a holistic review process, looking at all aspects of a student’s record in making our admission assessment. This process reflects our educational mission as a Jesuit institution,” the university says on its website.
hovered between 1,056 and 1,118 before enrollment considerably increased during the post-COVID years. Starting in 2021, more students have also decided to accept the university’s offer of admission, contributing to the larger cohorts.
How has first-year enrollment changed in recent years? Since 2021, when the class of 2025 arrived on campus for the first time, Fairfield has experienced what some students have described as the university “over-accepting” students, which led to so-called forced triples, lounges converted into rooms and longer lines at The Tully. According to university data, the number of enrolled students per year at Fairfield
The current first-year class was at a 28% yield rate, which indicates the percentage of admitted students who ultimately enroll. That number stood at 18% just five years ago.