Welcome back, Jaspers! It’s time to break out your favorite sports jersey and practice your rounds of applause because Student Activities has a jam packed semester full of events ranging from NFL tickets to award winning Broadway shows.
The first event will be taking place in just a few days; Student Activities is selling tickets to the U.S. Open Tennis Championships for Sept. 1st. Other sporting events for the month of September and October are tickets to the Jets home opener vs. Oakland, AMA Pro Racing event at the New Jersey Motorsports Park and to the WWE Monday Night Raw (check calendar for dates). Perhaps the most popular event and the most competitive to get tickets for will be Derek Jeter’s last game at Yankee Stadium.
“I’m really looking forward to Derek Jeter’s last game at Yankee Stadium,” Michael Volgende, a freshman engineer major said.
Not into sports? Hop on the subway and get off at 42nd Street to check out some of Broadway’s most successful shows. Tickets to see Matilda, Les Misérables and Wicked are being sold by Student Activities at a discounted price that you can’t find anywhere else. Looking for a thrill? Join other Jaspers on a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure Park. Do you like live music and being outdoors? Stop by the quad on Aug. 30th at 12pm to see Boys Like Girls perform on campus.
“Student Activities does their best at picking a variety of events,” Lindsey Pamlanye, a senior secondary education and English major said. “It’s definitely impossible to please everyone, but I think the people who do show up have a good time 100% of the time.”
Another excellent event being hosted by Student Activities is the Third Annual Lecture Series. The first speaker will be Brian Cashman, who is the General Manager of the New York Yankees. The next day will be actress, Rosario Dawson, most known for her roles in “Rent,” “Grindhouse” and “Sin City.” Following Rosario is MBTA police officer, Dic Donohue, who was wounded at the Boston Marathon along with his wife Kim. They are both part of the Manhattan College class of 2004. Closing the series will be famous realtor and TV personality from Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing,” Luis Ortiz. The lectures will be held in the Student Commons – Great Room 5th Floor.
One of the biggest changes being made by Student Activities this year is the ticket sales will no longer begin in the morning.
“I’m going to have ticket sales start at 1 p.m. instead of 10 a.m. My thinking behind this is to be more commuter friendly and also conscious of students who have internships and student teaching. Nothing’s set in stone. If it doesn’t work the first few weeks we can always change it, but I want to at least try to see if this helps students more,” director of Student Activities, John Bennett, said.
So far, students seem to be happy about the time change.
“I am happy that they moved the time for ticket sales to 1 p.m. because I’ll be student teaching this semester so I will have somewhat of a chance to purchase tickets now,” Ciara McGinley, a senior education major said.
Another big change will be the meeting place for group trips. Groups are now going to meet on the terrace of the 4th floor of the Student Commons before departing for their trip.
Whether you are rooting for a touchdown, collecting playbills or screaming your head off on a roller coaster, remember that Student Activities is the backbone of it all.