For the first time in roughly seven years, St. Patrick’s Day will be celebrated amongst the Oswego State community while classes are still in session as opposed to taking place during spring break.
According to Associate Provost and Head of the Calendar Committee, Rameen Mohammadi, March 17 tends to fall during spring break but this year the with Easter taking place the week after St. Patty’s Day, the committee decided to have the week of spring break occur the same week of Easter.
“We’ll be going back to seeing March 17 occur during spring break again next year,” Mahammadi said.
It is during this time that the city of Oswego will be hosting its first ever St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday, March 12 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. from West First St. and ending across Bridge St. on East First St. which will be in conjunction with a 5K walk/run in the morning and an al- day “Pub Crawl.”
Considering the rarity of St. Patrick’s Day taking place while students are still on campus, the many student plan to attend the events taking place in downtown Oswego on Saturday and Thursday.
According to senior, Eric Ortiz even though he is not of Irish decent he plans to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by going downtown.
“I will probably go to class and then go to the bars since they open early on Thursday,” Ortiz said.
Although seniors Leslie Usherwood is not Irish and don’t plan to participate in St. Patrick’s Day Parade she thinks that the parade will be similar to other Oswego bar crawl traditions such as Bridge Street Run which takes place the last day of classes.
“It just seems like another excuse for another BSR,” Usherwood said.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were a total of 276 lives lost in drunk driving crashes from 2009 to 2013 on St. Patrick’s Day and approximately every 51 minutes a life is claimed on St. Patrick’s Day due to alcohol related crashes.
Although free shuttle transportation on the Oswego D Bus is being offered from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. to encourage participates not to drink and drive, the administration plans to offer more alternatives during this day of celebration. “We have no way of knowing how many students will go to the parade on Saturday, but we do hope that our students will support our local community by attending the parade and engaging in safe, responsible behavior,” said Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Jerald Woolfolk.
“We have no way of knowing how many students will go to the parade on Saturday, but we do hope that our students will support our local community by attending the parade and engaging in safe, responsible behavior,” said Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Jerald Woolfolk.
Leading up to Saturday’s parade as well as St. Patrick’s Day on Thursday, different departments throughout campus plan to offer programs on campus to educate students in regards to the alcohol consumption that typically surrounds St. Patrick’s Day.
As a result in the change of the academic calendar, The Lifestyles Center has started a campaign known as “Don’t Push your Luck” which has been advertised through digital signage, social media and posters campus wide.
“These St. Patrick Day events are not geared solely towards college students,” said Trisha DeWolf, Oswego State’s alcohol and other drugs (AOD) coordinator. “These events are for people in the Oswego Community and most of the events are family friendly. That’s why we have worked hard to collaborate as a campus to get ahead of any potential issues and to remind students that their safety is a priority but they need to make responsible choices.”
Other than the campaign, the Lifestyles Center continues to host open mic night, red wagon outreach and tabling to offer alternatives and educational programs as well as an all-day event on St. Patrick’s Day in the Lifestyles Center with food for the students to eat, safety tips about drinking and a costume contest where condoms will be on sale, 20 for $1.“Student safety is a top priority hence the reason for all of the events/promotion centered around safety,” DeWolf said. “It’s important for students to also remember that if they violate any state or local law or college policy, there will be repercussions for their actions.”
“Student safety is a top priority hence the reason for all of the events/promotion centered around safety,” DeWolf said. “It’s important for students to also remember that if they violate any state or local law or college policy, there will be repercussions for their actions.”
Some students, like sophomore William Zenyuk, weren’t aware of the parade and just planned to spend time with friends.
“I may end up celebrating [St. Patrick’s Day] but it will most likely involve making cookies and hanging out with friends,” Zenyuk said.
The Department of Resident Life and Housing have required all Residence Halls to have a social program on either Saturday or St. Patrick’s Day to provide students with another alternative.
Assistant Vice President of Residence Life and Housing Richard Kolenda was not available in time for publication.
University Police has been made aware of the events taking place on and off campus but are not expecting additional activity on campus on Saturday and have not coordinated with outside agencies for the 17th but will be involved in promoting DWI prevention.
“We will be participating with the county wide Stop DWI patrols and are hoping to have our bike patrol officers out ensuring everyone is having a fun and safe time if they chose to celebrate on the 17th,” said University Police Chief John Rossi.
The Oswego City Police Department plans to be involved in maintaining public safety during Saturday’s parade. In a statement released by the Oswego City Police Department, Lieutenant Zachary Misztal reminded residents that the Open Container Ordinance is still in effect and that the street will be closing West First Street and East First Street, north of State Route 104 as well as the Bridge Street Bridge to vehicular traffic with temporary restricted parking.
“We want to provide the safest environment possible and will have officers present during the parade,” Misztal said.
According to Mahammdi, St, Patrick’s Day will most likely not be during school session next year.
“We’ll be going back to seeing March 17 occur during spring break again next year,” Mahammadi said.
Having the majority of students here during St. Patrick’s day is a rarity. Although, senior Becky Tokarczyk doesn’t normally celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, she thinks it is exciting to see what it is like to be in Oswego during this time of year.
“I think it is something that all of us here have never experienced in Oswego, so it is definitely going to be different which is exciting,” Tokarczyk said.
