Chancellor Nancy Cantor taking part in a pie eating contest was the last thing new Syracuse University students might have expected to see on their trip to the Connective Corridor on Saturday night, but that’s exactly what they saw.

Freshman and transfer students witnessed the contest during the Syracuse Welcome’s Connective Corridor event at downtown Clinton Square.

The pie eating contest, which most attendees agreed was the highlight of the night’s events, was just one of many activities scheduled for the Syracuse Welcome.

‘The fact that the chancellor participated was really great,’ said Matthew Snyder, director of communication and media relations with SU’s student affairs.

There was such a crowd that only the people in the front could see it, Snyder said.

‘She really got right in there and had a few bites of pie,’ said director of Off-Campus Student Services Laura Madelone.

A steady stream of about 2,300 new students was bussed downtown to Clinton Square for the event from 5 to 8 p.m. Tour guides were on the buses telling the students about the Connective Corridor and the history of Clinton Square.

‘This year’s event was more consolidated,’ said Snyder. ‘It was designed to take in the diversity that downtown has to offer.’

The event was meant for the students to get to know the Syracuse community, keeping with the chancellor’s commitment to ‘Exploring the Soul of Syracuse’ and the building of the Connective Corridor.

‘Tonight’s event was amazing,’ said Madelone. ‘It went off without a hitch.’

The bands Twelve A.M. and Simple Life played throughout the event in the square, while student groups conducted carnival games, like the pie eating contest.

‘People were happy with the event,’ said Snyder. ‘It’s hard for them to miss coming down – it’s the only place they could have eaten dinner.’

The Syracuse Welcome committee worked with Food Services to coordinate meals for the students downtown. Therefore, the only dining halls that remained open were Haven, Kimmel and Goldstein, said Madelone.

Several students said they enjoyed going downtown, but wouldn’t go there if they didn’t have to.

‘After you ate, there was nothing to do,’ said Janine Bonanno, a freshman hospitality management major. ‘It doesn’t seem like there was much for us to do for people our age.’

Bonanno and her friends Katharine Daniels, an education major and Rebecca Greenblatt, a hospitality major said they liked the bands that played, but felt like the students were ‘trapped’ downtown because the bus routes traveled from campus to Clinton Square, then to the Warehouse, before going back to the university.

‘That was the only route the buses would take,’ Daniels said.

The numbers of students in attendance were even better than last year, said Madelone. This is no surprise because this year’s freshman class is larger than last year.

However, the event was also tailored towards activities the previous freshman class thought the incoming students would want, Snyder said.

‘We also asked students who participated last year what they liked and what they wanted to see for this year’s students,’ said Snyder.

Last year’s event was held downtown in Armory Square, where students were bussed to see the lighting of the Warehouse.

Published on August 27, 2006 at 12:00 pm