Students giving out Red Bull on the quad.
ANGELINA PEREZ / THE QUADRANGLE
By Angelina Perez, Arts & Entertainment Editor and Engagement Editor
On the first weekend of April, Manhattan College’s annual Spring Fest took place so students could enjoy time on the quad with their fellow Jaspers, bouncy castles, food and more.
Students rode the mechanical bull, timing each other in an attempt to break each other’s records while a DJ played the top hits from the 2000s to now.
Sophomore civil engineering student Sean Hunnewell told The Quadrangle how the fraternity he is pledging, Delta Kappa Epsilon [DKE], was sponsored by the company Red Bull during Spring Fest. They had a station on the quad where they gave out sunglasses and different flavors for free to students and staff members.
“Red Bull has teamed up with [DKE] to show Manhattan College how great Red Bull can be,” Hunnewell said. “We were offered Red Bull, and in exchange, we helped them run a hydration station on the quad.”
In past years, Spring Fest provided lawn games and activities for students to engage with during the afternoon, with a concert occurring in Draddy Gymnasium at night. This year was the first year without such a concert.
“There’s no concert afterward which a lot of students were looking forward to but we have food on the quad this year and great weather,” Hunnewell said. “It’s early, but it’s already been a good Spring Fest.”
Hunnewell explained the importance of prioritizing activities over artists, who take up a significant portion of the Spring Fest budget annually.
“I don’t know what our budget is like, but there’s not a ton of artists that I’d be interested in seeing, so I think we should do more to improve the quad or give us more options,” Hunnewell said. “Getting a musician at the end only makes a couple of kids happy, not many people.”
Seniors Devyn Barram, Liam Rayder and Morgan Schuyler reflected on their last Spring Fest, sharing their favorite moments from past ones they have spent together.
“I never know what to expect with Spring Fest, it’s different every year,” Schuyler said. “It’s bittersweet, this being the last one.”
Students laughed with each other and sat around the quad in lawn chairs on the steps leading up to the Chapel of De La Salle and his Brothers.
“I like how it’s a holiday for [MC students] to show their faces on the quad,” Barram said. “Everyone is in the same place, regardless of whether or not they find it lame.”
After a three-year hiatus from Spring Fest back in 2022, where the group Two Friends performed, and rapper NAV in 2023, students could rely on one thing staying the same: the mechanical bull.
“It rained last year, and everyone was falling off the bull,” Rayder said. “Including myself.”
MC’s student government worked all year to put on an event for the Jasper community to celebrate the end of the spring semester, with only a few weeks left.
“Kudos to the students who worked on this,” Schuyler said. “Thanks for doing this even though we have no money.”
In what is usually administration parking, Mister Softee’s ice cream truck had students lined up to get cones of their favorite flavors and toppings. Rayder told The Quadrangle this was his favorite part of the day.
“I would like to have seen food trucks rather than like a station,” Schuyler said. “They could have had it be similar to an event that occurred our sophomore year where at least six food trucks lined up in the Kelly parking lot,” Schuyler said.
Students can look forward to next year’s Spring Fest, which will inevitably once again be filled with good vibes brought to them by their fellow Jaspers.