Saint Rose celebrates Halloween safely

By EMILY PAOLICELLI
Co-Executive Editor

Student organizations at The College of Saint Rose held events every day for the week preceding Halloween this year. With the COVID-19 pandemic, classic Saint Rose Halloween events like T.P. the Tree and the annual Murder Mystery dinner could not happen as usual, so organizations like Student Association and Late Knight hosted a week worth of events that were adjusted to meet social distancing protocols.

T.P. the Tree, a Saint Rose tradition that takes place at midnight to kick off Halloween, did not occur this year as it usually does. Students typically gather around a large tree on the quad, in costume, late at night on Oct. 30 to cover the tree in Saint Rose-provided toilet paper once the clock strikes 12. However, this year the event was canceled.

“We knew it wasn’t gonna happen pretty much since we got here but we had some hope,” wrote Emily Cruz, student association director of academic activities, in a text message. “As we approached October, we knew it couldn’t happen because of the amount of people. Halloween happening was something we thought about at the beginning of the month where some students could come and help decorate the quad in preparation of Late Knight’s Halloween fair!”

The Halloween Happening event will not replace T.P. the Tree, according to Cruz. This event was simply to bring students together while giving seniors the opportunity to experience something similar to T.P. the Tree. The Student Association provided students with supplies to decorate the Quad and required participants to social distance and wear masks.

“I think it’s a nice gesture and maybe it can go on in the future, but it was really a placeholder for TP the tree. We don’t want to replace it!” wrote Cruz.

In lieu of typical events like T.P. the tree, however, Late Knight teamed up with various campus organizations to put on Halloweek, a week-long series of activities for Saint Rose students to participate in.

“We started the week with a kickoff party and had various events like a RBG movie screening and costume party, tarot card readings, pumpkin painting, movie night, Halloween Festival, and Halloween trivia,” said Theresa Belfance, the graduate assistant for Late Knight, in a Facebook message.

At each of the events, proper social distancing protocols were followed, including hand sanitizer stations and distanced seating.

Another event that was held on Oct. 31 was the Music Industry Student Association and Rose Record Label’s Halloween Spook-Tacular show. There were three musical acts that performed indoors at Saint Joseph’s Hall to a socially distanced audience. Bassist Aaron Borenstein of LadyByrd, one of the bands that performed at the show, spoke on the impact of events like the Spook-Tacular on the campus community.

“It’s important to hold events like this because although it’s nothing like concerts before COVID the excitement of playing and listening to live music made my Halloween much better,” wrote Borenstein in an email. “By hosting these gatherings with proper COVID protocols you are providing students who would otherwise be going to unregulated parties an event to go to so they don’t feel like they’re missing out.”

With students more isolated due to the pandemic, connection is key, according to Belfance.

“It’s super important to hold safe events during the pandemic because we still need to engage students as a campus community,” wrote Belfance. “By holding these safe events, it allows us to come together as a campus community and become stronger.”