Eclipse Day - an amazing, memorable experience for campus

“Synergy and a sense of Big Blue pride.”

That’s how Director of Campus Life Mark Suida illustrated the campus community’s embrace of Eclipse Day.

“The student activities provided synergy and a sense of Big Blue pride permeated throughout the club/maker faire, pep rally and band performances. I am so thankful for our clubs who displayed their unique talents and skills that were enjoyed by so many campus and community members,” Mr. Suida remarked.

“While the clouds were a little disappointing, the darkness of totality was still an amazing experience, and I'm glad everybody at Fredonia had the opportunity to experience it,” said Department of Physics Associate Professor and Eclipse Planning Committee Co-chair Michael Dunham. “Everybody seemed to be having a great time and refusing to let the overcast skies get them down.”

The last 45 minutes of the eclipse (post-totality) provided a great view of the partially eclipsed sun as the clouds started to break apart, Dr. Dunham added. “Many people stayed all the way through until the end, and I'm glad so many got to see the crescent-shaped sun.”

Eclipse glasses for the campus community were purchased with funding provided by the Carnahan Jackson Fund for the Humanities of the Fredonia College Foundation.

While totality – when the moon entirely blocked out the sun and transformed day into night – lasted just under four minutes, and the partial eclipse spanned nearly 2-1/2 hours, there was an eclectic mix of campus activities and events throughout much of the day.

Organizers estimate the crowd size between 1,000 and 1,500.

“Everyone was very impressed with the food trucks. The bands were awesome, the maker faire and the pep rally were well attended, and we had a lot of community members who were not really associated with the campus at the event, which we were happy about,” added Charles Holder, the campus emergency planning coordinator and Eclipse Planning Committee co-chair.

“This is the type of event, with student bands and food trucks, that we really should be planning more of that showcase our students and their talents,” Mr. Holder remarked.

“It was a huge turnout,” confirmed Sangai Keita, a senior and Campus Life intern who coordinated the Williams Center events. She organized the entire pep rally and did a great job running the show and bringing other club presidents on board, according to Mr. Suida.

“Moreover, the clubs that tabled really kept the campus community engaged and excited for the events to come. I think the clubs contributing to the eclipse event created more of an intimate relationship between the students and the surrounding community of our institution,” Ms. Keita, a senior Political Science and Communication: Public Relations major from Queens, NY, explained.

Participating clubs delivering spirited, crowd-pleasing performances included: The Riveters, Dynamic Intonation, Blue Ice, Enfusion, Performing Arts Company, Percussion Guild, RINCE Irish Dance and the Fredonia Dance Team.

Keita, who chaired the 2023 Black Student Union Fashion Show, said she loves talking to and engaging with people and putting on events that bring people together. “Taking part in this event really was a learning experience for me,” she added.

Fredonia Radio Systems (FRS) coordinated live music, featuring an eclectic mix of student-led bands, in the designated viewing area adjacent to the University Townhouses. The groups and their genres were: Two Peas in a Pod (folk duo), Plymouth Knob, (Americana/rock), HitGRL (indie/alternative) and Bone Machine (shoegaze).

“I'm excited that we got the opportunity to show off a part of the music scene to the crowds of people. I extend special thanks to Sound Services and the rest of FRS for helping to plan the concert, as well as the bands for playing,” said Fredonia Radio Systems General Manager and Producer Hunter Halterman, a senior Communication: Audio/Radio Production and Communication: Video Production major, from Salamanca, NY. “Everyone seems to have had a good time.”

Along with singers and dancers, some 20 clubs and organizations set up shop alongside the Multipurpose Room perimeter, entertaining some 300 students, staff and community members. STEPS and Sigma Gamma Phi had bead bracelet making stations. The American Cancer Society chapter offered leaf and rock art. Fredonia eSports provided Nintendo Switch Games for guests to play. The Student Health Center brought moon pies and SunnyD beverages.

Straight out of “it’s a small world” on Tuesday, the day after the eclipse, is a report by Katherine Studt, a junior Adolescence Education: Social Studies major, from her early field hours at Silver Creek Middle School.

As they were arriving in Raymond Graf's seventh-grade class, Ms. Studt asked students about their eclipse experiences. A student “perked up” and reported that he was able to go to the SUNY Fredonia campus for the once-in-a-lifetime event.

“He said he had the best time telling me, ‘I got to play video games! and I got this really cool picture of me. They made it so fast right in front of me!’" Studt, who’s originally from Brooklyn, NY, recalled.

Studt is a member of FredGROWS, which conducted a craft that involved combining native flower seeds with recycled paper that can be shaped into an easily decomposable ball that can be placed in areas of low vegetation.

Lunch and dinners guests at Cranston Marche were treated to a special menu highlighted by Sun Chips with black moon bean dip for an appetizer, eclipse flatbread with moon-shaped pepperoni, star and moon pasta with marinara sauce for the pizza/pasta selection and, for dessert, eclipse cupcakes, moon pies and create-your-own cosmic donut.

Five food trucks – Cheesy Chick, The Best of Buffalo by Byron, LuGia’s, Over the Rainbow and Yakisoba – were stationed at the prime campus viewing site. “They  were all very busy! The crowd seemed generally happy even though lines were long,” according to Kathryn Thies, special programs manager at the Faculty Student Association.

Professor Sean Duggan, on harpsichord and piano, presented a “Total Eclipse Recital,” performing the two sets of keyboard variations that are said to eclipse all others – Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” and Beethoven’s “Diabelli Variations” – in Rosch Recital Hall.

The Greatest Generation United States Army Jazz Ambassadors performed in King Concert Hall to wind up the special day of events.