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Local children at Manhattan College’s Safe Halloween. ANGELINA PEREZ/THE QUADRANGLE

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By Mack Olmsted, Asst. Arts and Entertainment Editor

If it’s Halloween, then it’s time for Manhattan College students to provide a safe and happy event for the children of Riverdale at the college campus. 

MC Halloween, a long-running tradition at the college formerly called “Safe Halloween,” continues the same traditions as its predecessor before Covid. 

The event ran for two hours last Friday, with over 400 event goers. Kappa Delta Pi (KDP), MC’s Education Honor Society hosted the event with over 30 clubs participating

“I think every kid enjoyed it,” said Victoria Pascale, the co-vice president of campus and community for Kappa Delta Pi. “A lot of parents were complimenting and saying the kids were going to talk about this for weeks. Nobody wanted to go home, they just wanted to stay here and play.” 

Many of the Kappa Delta Pi members are student teachers, with some of the children who went to MC Halloween being students of the KDP members. The KDP members were happy to give their students a safe and exciting recreational event outside of their school. 

“I would just turn around and see some of my kids [students] and they would be so happy to see me outside of school,” said Maeve Ammirati, the co-vice president of campus and community for Kappa Delta Pi. “I was really glad that we could give them a fun time.” 

The event was so popular that lines stretched from the quadrangle arches and beyond the public safety booth. KDP plans to turn the safety registration forms completely digital next year to try and avoid this from happening again. 

KDP held MC Halloween in De La Salle Hall, the quadrangle and Miguel Hall where students of the Riverdale community got to experience different Halloween-themed educational activities while engaging with the variety of organizations MC campus has to offer. 

“I helped oversee the event and it was great to see kids go from room to room,” said Victoria Pascale, the co-vice president of campus and community for Kappa Delta Pi. “Seeing the kids excited and doing all the activities really shows all the hard work we put into it.” 

Children escorted by their parents went from room to room and participated in various activities like coloring and Just Dance that Manhattan College students had prepared. After completing the activity, the children received treats to get in the Halloween spirit. Outside on the quadrangle, there were athletic games for the children to enjoy brought by the athletic teams such as the men’s basketball and golf team. 

Funding for the event’s decorations and treats came from all the clubs’ own fundraising efforts. Every classroom had its own theme ranging from classic Halloween characters like Frankenstein, and the Mummy to movie themes like Spider-man, Wizard of Oz, Disney and much more. 

Also at the event, there was a book drive where event goers could see the donated children’s books given by the college community, and choose to take home anything they liked from the books at the station. 

Ammirati noted she feels the educational benefit is an especially important aspect of the event. 

“MC Halloween is great, and it’s very fun, but I think the book drive just adds like a perfect mix,” Ammirati said. “We do want to keep it as an educational benefit for them. I think helping to support their education by doing the book table is one of the best ways to do that.”

 Advisor of Kappa Delta Pi, Ruth Zealand was proud of the event’s turnout and participation. Zealand expressed why the event is a treasure to the college community.

“It’s a way of celebrating the fall and having fun and engaging activities that families look forward to every year,” Zealand said. “It’s the highlight of activities for some of the parents, one of the faculty members told me recently that it’s a real highlight for the family to come.”