More than 1,000 students visited the quad on Oct. 1 for the University of Rhode Island’s annual Quad Fest, where there were plenty of hot dogs, games and various student organizations.
URI President Marc Palange and Special Events Coordinator Ann Marie Smiley hosted the event and welcomed students to try free food, provided opportunities to win prizes and join new clubs, according to Smiley.
Quad Fest began when Parlange arrived on campus four years ago. He wanted to start this event as a way to connect the URI community and let students relax and unwind just as the semester starts to pick up.
“I love all the clubs here at URI and I just want people to know about all of the clubs and find their place here at URI,” Parlange said.
In the past few years, there has been an increase in student interest for diversified club ideas, Student Senate Vice President Sanah Feroz said.
“Observing Rhody Fest this year, the crowd has diversified and there are more niche clubs that have been created in the past two years,” Feroz said. “When I think of Quad Fest, it is a wellness check. We are a few weeks into the semester and students are getting settled and the university tries to do stuff outside the box.”
45 different student organizations set up booths for students to explore a variety of clubs, teams and religious groups.
Other services that were involved were the URI Police, who made hot dogs and popcorn, and Health Services, who provided mental health wellness checks. Health Services also offered free goodies and stamping cards, giving away a URI sweatshirt to one lucky student.
Students could compete and collaborate with peers in rock wall, corn hole, spike ball and kam jam. URI firefighters also let students play basketball off of a hoop that they attached to the edge of the fire truck.
Students also participated in several rounds of “Name That Tune,” hosted by WRIU.
“Seeing all of the students come out and having fun is something that I really enjoy about Quad Fest,” Smiley said. “This takes a few months of planning. We have to contact all of the groups and the students really enjoy the petting zoo.”
For the first time since coming to Quad Fest, the Peckham Farm Petting Zoo had goats walking around and allowed students to touch and get close to them, according to Smiley. The goats were caged in previous years.
“It is nice seeing people who we know walking by and also seeing all these new faces,” Kylie Stall, a captain of URI’s Ultimate Frisbee team said.
With an increase of freshmen coming into URI, Quad Fest was a way for new students to learn more about campus involvement and forming community, which Parlange said he hoped for.