While many students choose to go out to celebrate after football games, some prefer to stay on campus. To accommodate those students, Saint Mary’s continues to offer Fifth Quarter events — on-campus activities intended to engage the College community after Notre Dame athletic events.
The Office of Student Involvement (OSI) — including director Gloria Jenkins and staff assistant Kaitlyn Stankiewicz — plan the Fifth Quarter events.
Senior resident advisor Alyssa Rogers said she helped plan and lead several Fifth Quarter events this year to ensure the events cater to students’ needs and interests. Successful activities so far have included a movie viewing, a spa activity and trivia night, since they established a comfortable atmosphere in which students can bond, she said.
“I chose [to help with] Fifth Quarter because I enjoy planning events and meeting new people on campus,” Rogers said.
Rogers said Fifth Quarter events were originally intended to encourage students to stay on campus after football games, but now they have become a great alternative for students who do not like to go to the games at all.
“I personally think that the events are a nice alternative to the game if you aren’t interested in football or just feel like taking a weekend off,” Rogers said. “They help build community among students on our campus, are a great way to meet new people and the actual activities are really fun this year.”
Stankiewicz said this year OSI also received help from Le Mans hall director Nicole Hundt since planning Fifth Quarter events is a team effort. The events encourage a variety of ways for students to celebrate a Notre Dame victory, she said.
“Not everyone is interested in the party scene or going out after the Notre Dame football games,” Stankiewicz said in an email. “And even those who do like to go out come to Fifth Quarter events because they want a fun activity on campus and they want to do something different. This benefits students because it gives them a diverse offering of events in an alcohol free safe environment.”
There was also a Fifth Quarter event during freshmen orientation to provide students an alternative to Domerfest, Rogers said.
“We decorated little pots and planted succulents,” Rogers said. “We also did some henna tattoos. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much interested in the event because everyone went to Domerfest. But I think it would be really successful as a Fifth Quarter event for next year.”
The events garnered a solid turnout so far this year, Stankiewicz said.
“Our SMC trivia event had about 25 people,” Stankiewicz said.
In the spring, OSI hosts similar events called Overtime after basketball games, and ideas for this spring include boxing classes, meditation and massages, Stankiewicz said. Fifth Quarter events have been a tradition at Saint Mary’s, and Stankiewicz said OSI is pleased with the positive reception the events have received this year.
