October 28th, 2025, marked the annual SUnity Day, where students, faculty, and staff alike joined together to celebrate a day of freedom. This semester was themed around carnival fun, but we’ll get into that later. What happened this SUnity Day to make it the most lively thus far? That’s a great question, and I can’t wait to tell you. 

The kickoff started with breakfast tacos and coffee, along with the annual First Year Symposium, in the Bishop’s Lounge. The First Year Symposium is where Southwestern University’s first-year students showcase what they have been working on during their First Year Seminar or Advanced Entry Seminar. First-year students gathered around and presented their work to fellow students, faculty, and staff. The audience was free to wander about the lounge to ask students questions about their time at SU thus far, specifically what they’d been learning about in their First Year Seminar or Advanced Entry Seminar. This was a great time for students to network and get to know each other, as well as to get to know professors from various disciplines. 

Next up was the Paideia Connections Lecture, which is where two professors showcase their research and how they relate to each other, no matter how different they may seem. This year’s lecture showcased Dr. Allison Miller of the Art History department and Dr. Lamiyah Bahrainwala of the Communications department. Dr. Miller talked about the importance of gaze in ancient Chinese art, while Dr. Bahrainwala discussed her article “Muscular Anti-Muslim Sentiment”, which was published in Women’s Studies in Communications the week prior. She talked about muscular Zionism and how it works in tandem with muscular Hinduism to perpetuate anti-Muslim ideologies. They each presented their work and went into detail about the wonders of Paideia and how works intersect across various disciplines and fields. 

From 11-3, the Academic Mall was transformed into a carnival.  Lining the sidewalk were tents from various student organizations, such as Pirates for Pride, SU Votes, and BSU. Additionally, activities like ring toss, giant Jenga, balloon pop, cornhole, and tug of war were scattered across the mall, all run by the previously mentioned student organizations. Faculty, staff, and students alike joined in on the fun, making the campus more lively than ever before. The campus’s fraternities even had a dunk tank, where members took turns being dunked. Based on the ever-growing line, the star of the show was the petting zoo. With rabbits, goats, ducks, and chickens, students could stop by and feed these animals, as well as pet them, which they enjoyed ever so much. Now, you may be wondering what the incentive was for all of these people, especially students, to be outside on their day off. That would be the ever-coveted assigned parking space. That’s right, students, faculty, and staff each had a chance to win their very own parking spot. All they had to do was collect stamps from different booths, as well as from attending the First Year Symposium and the Paideia Connections Lecture. Also happening amongst the fun was a costume contest, prize walk, and game of dodgeball. This added to the excitement on the mall, making it fun for everyone involved. Special thanks to Student Activities for organizing the outdoor fun that all of campus enjoyed. 

To add to the carnival fun, the dining hall was closed for a carnival-style lunch on the Academic Mall. Everything from burgers and fries to nachos, mini corndogs, and pretzels were offered; the fair vibes were immaculate. If that wasn’t enough, there were also sodas, caramel apples, cotton candy, and snow cones. Part of me wishes I had the opportunity to step away from my booth and try more things, because they all looked delicious, which most of you know isn’t usually the case. Soon after lunch ended, Sweet Surprise began. What is the most carnival-themed sweet treat of them all? You guessed it, funnel cakes. Students lined up to get a funnel cake covered in powdered sugar and finish off their afternoon outside. In addition to all the fun in the sun, there was also a poetry slam where students and faculty could share and listen to each other’s original poetry, as well as share poetry from well-known poets. To end the day, the English department’s Dr. Cleere hosted a screening of “The Shining”. This was a great start to the Halloween fun and a great way to end the fun of SUnity Day.