Students Spread Cheer Before Finals

The Committee Behind Lavender Fever Week by Anthony ViolaPlenty of work happens all year long leading up to May’s annual Lavender Fever Week (LFW). Although the roster of events seems to be all fun and games, behind each day one student committee makes it all happen.From the week-long scavenger hunt to the food and game festival, called LavenderFest, the 10-person committee plans it all from October of the previous year. Every other week leading up to the festivities, the committee convenes to discuss bouncy houses, food options, and entertainment ideas.Kelsey Cohen, a sophomore majoring in Jewish Studies, wanted to have more of a role in building school positivity, and a friend approached her with the opportunity to join the committee. “I always wanted to plan my prom and I graduated early so I never got to that,” she explains. “This is kind of taking my event-planning experience and transferring onto Lavender Fever Week.”Cohen sees the experience as a way of changing the dreariness that can sometimes come with a commuter school like City College. “Through the week, there were different tables and different things, and since I was there every day, I got to know a lot of people that way,” she notes.Cohen, along with other committee members and volunteers, helped conduct “CCNY’s Got Talent.” This competition inspires members of the student body to show off their abilities through a series of rounds, from auditions during the semester to the finale on May 10. This year’s winner, Michael Crisol, took home a MacBook Air for his beatboxing skills.Fatima Faisal also sat on this year’s Lavender Fever Week committee. For her, it opened a door not only to become involved herself, but to get her peers involved, too. “From the very beginning, I knew it would be impactful because many students complained about how the campus lacked in most of its student life services,” says Faisal. “So I thought if there was something I could do to help make things better, I would.”When the events took place, both Cohen and Faisal saw their six months of work come to life. “I think that one of the things at City College is getting involved could be way too overwhelming or way too underwhelming, and that’s something that we took into account,” Cohen mentions. “For Lavender Fever Week, you see balloons everywhere and you get really excited about having some sort of school spirit, that during a normal day, you don’t really feel.”Faisal, a transfer student from a community college, says LFW allowed her to capitalize on her final years of undergraduate schooling. “Honestly, I never felt more excited, relaxed, and accomplished seeing our planning come to life,” she says. “Students were enjoying it, and that's all that mattered. CCNY felt like home.”The Student Life and Leadership Development office will begin selecting students to assist with next year’s events in the fall. If you’re interested, look for the announcement in your citymail to get involved. “Whether it’s you getting very deeply involved, or only volunteer a little, you get to meet new people and have experiences you wouldn’t have during a normal week,” Cohen says. “You feel like a CCNY student.”