With the majority of residence halls and facilities closed over spring break, many students who remained on campus were faced with the task of finding ways to stay busy while the majority of the student population enjoyed time elsewhere.
"We work with a very skeleton crew during break so I don't see us changing what we offer on campus," Assistant Director for Housing Services Cheryl Janus said.
The majority of students who stay on campus over break are athletes, Janus said.
"They're going to practices, going to games and being with their teams," she said.
Due to the lack of Resident Assistants on campus during break, Janus said there is little opportunity for programming during this time.
"The campus is pretty depressing over break. It's so empty," sophomore Claire Suellentrop said. "I think if Seton Hall could offer some simple activities, like showing movies in the Cove or something, the students who remain on campus wouldn't feel like they're stuck in a graveyard."
Suellentrop said a flight home to Wichita, Kansas for a week would have been too expensive.
Instead, she spent her break doing homework and catching up with friends from home over the phone.
Some students who stayed on-campus over break were upset that the main and outer portions of the Cafeteria were closed.
"Being from Japan, I didn't get to go home so I had to stay on campus," sophomore and international student Izumi Namba said. "It didn't bother me a lot to stay here over break but I wish the cafeteria had been open."
Gourmet Dining Services Vice President of Operations Anthony Frungillo said GDS does what it can to meet the needs of students who do stay on campus during breaks. He said it would not be economical to keep the cafeteria open due to a lack of demand for meals throughout the day during break periods.
"For spring break, we had Pirate's Cove that was open.," Frungillo said. "It's all your regular panini sandwiches and items. We also offered alternate meal options in addition to the typical menu."
Namba said she passed most of her time on campus over break studying and doing schoolwork. She also said she went to New York City a few times during the week.
Other students were satisfied with their stay on-campus during break.
"I decided to stay here over break because working hours came up and, like every college student, I'm pretty broke so I wanted to do it," junior Katelyn Saporito, who works as a lifeguard at the Richie Regan Recreation and Athletic Center, said.
Saporito said that, overall, she was happy with what was offered on campus over break during the four days she stayed.
"I'm not going to be here for Easter but I would definitely be willing to stay again another break if an opportunity came up," she said.
In addition to the Athletic Center, the Walsh Library also remained open during spring break.
The only residence halls open were Xavier Hall, Ora Manor and Turrell Manor. In order to stay in one of these residence halls, students were required to sign up for break housing.
The SHUfly Shuttle Service was also not available during spring break.
For the upcoming Easter Break, Seton Hall will adhere to the same policies and closings as Spring Break. GDS said they plan to close the cafeteria but keep the Pirate's Cove open for student use as with spring break.
Alyana Alfaro can be reached at alyana.alfaro@student.shu.edu.
