Banana Bonanza!
Macaulay Honors College hosted its annual Halloween party on Friday, Oct. 28 at the Macaulay building on W 67th St. The event, which had either been canceled or had its capacity heavily restricted for the past few years due to COVID-19 was finally back in full swing.
All CUNY students were allowed to attend this year, a contrast to last year’s Macaulay-students-only policy. Elaina Ognibene, a sophomore at the College of Staten Island, said she was “definitely excited they’re letting all CUNY students. I wouldn’t be here if not.” The turnout noticeably increased from about 100 people last year to around 200-300 this time around.
The party had a variety of activities. In the commons, the Macaulay Peer Mentors hosted a ring toss with prizes and a spin the wheel to win Macaulay merch. Some students even played video games at the party. In the reading room, special initiative Macaulay Art Tank hosted a mask and pumpkin painting activity, which saw lots of activity.
On the other hand, in classroom 2S The Messenger and Scribe, Macaulay’s creative writing club, co-hosted a spooky stories room and ate s’mores around the candelabra fire. The party also offered a horror movie screening in the theater, along with a dance floor and catered dinner.
Attendees screamed and laughed when a group of five friends from Macaulay Hunter showed up to the party dressed as bananas and made quite the commotion. The bananas walked around the party like celebrities with everyone wanting to snap pictures of them.
Leading up to the event, Michelle Raguindin, a Macaulay Hunter sophomore, said she was “most excited about there being a DJ this time.” She continued, “[In] the previous years they only had Spotify playing.”
However, some students were left disappointed with the DJ’s selections. Stephanie Pincus, a Hunter freshman, said the Macaulay party reminded her of a “middle school dance. That’s what I was expecting though. I think if the music was better it would have been better.” Had the DJ had played more pop music and less “Cha Cha Slide,” Pincus believed she would have enjoyed the event better.
Regardless of the restrictions that come with school-sanctioned events, students still danced, ate and left with a smile on their faces.
