Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD), the DU honors society, will be hosting its first Fall Fest in conjunction with DUPB in Driscoll Underground tomorrow starting at 4 p.m. The festival will include games, prizes, food, pumpkin carving and a ghost hunt.
“Students will be able to reap the benefits of lots of free food in addition to the opportunity to win prizes, play games and relive the wonderful memory of carving a pumpkin – not to mention all while supporting a great cause,” said ALD president Cheyenne Michaels.
ALD is an honors society for students who have reached the end of their first year of college with a 3.5 GPA or higher and that are in the top 10 percent of their class.
The society has planned multiple specific events for the festival.
“We have about a dozen clubs so far that have volunteered to hold booths, and they will be doing everything from giving out free mini pumpkin pies, to bobbing for apples, trivia, a Dia de los Muertos altar with free hot chocolate and churros and lots of other great booths,” Michaels said. “KVDU will be DJing the event, DUGS will be doing what DUGS does best and members of the Department of Theatre will provide a fun atmosphere by walking around as costumed characters.”
DUPB is co-sponsoring the event, and they have arranged for a campus-wide ghost hunt at 7 p.m tonight.
All money from the event will benefit The House That Rock Built, a nonprofit organization formed to aid needy children through music.
“The pumpkin carving and enter-to-win drawing are the only things that will cost money for students to participate in, but all of the proceeds will be going to a local nonprofit organization that is co-founded by a DU graduate student, Giulia Pecone, called The House That Rock Built,” Michaels said. “The organization aims to raise money to provide music programs for kids who do not have access to any such program at their schools or do not have the money to afford private lessons.”
With DUPB, Michaels hopes that Fall Fest will become as much of a staple as May Days is to DU.
“The idea behind Fall Fest is that it will be similar to the May Days Carnival, simply by being a good excuse to get as many of DU’s clubs and organizations to collaborate and create a fun event for the entire student body,” she said. “The main differences between Fall Fest and May Days are the Fall/Halloween theme and the fact that a fairly ‘new’ and unknown organization is putting it together.”
Michaels, who became president of ALD at the beginning of this year, describes the society as an opportunity for already strong students to take their academic careers further.
“We provide these elite students who join with unique opportunities like scholarships, participation in community service events, social events, and we encourage them to continue excelling in their life here at DU,” she said. “ALD strives to kind of be the reward for anyone who not only survives their freshman year of college but makes the most of it academically, as well.”
Michaels said she is working to make ALD a well-known organization on campus.
“Prior to this year, I think ALD served as a resume fluffer more than anything,” she said. “It was somewhat of an underground secret society, and I say that because I had never even heard of it until I got the email saying I was eligible to join, and my thought was, ‘Sure, it’ll look good on my resume.'”
After becoming president of the organization, however, Michaels’ attitude toward ALD changed.
“But being the neurotic overachiever that I am, I got this crazy idea that it would be cool to make this a legitimate organization when I became president,” she said. “With the wonderful collaboration and enthusiasm of the other officers, we came up with one major goal for the year: get our name out there. When this year’s freshmen get that email in April, we want them to say, ‘Oh yeah, I know them, they’re awesome. I want to be a part of that.’ Fall Fest is our first step in that direction.”
