There was a collective joy on campus as everyone checked the weather app and saw a beautiful forecast of 80 degrees with a UV index of eight last week. This perfect combination has an unspoken power that makes every student around campus want to sit outside on a big patch of grass and bask in the sun with their friends. From Spikeball to homework outside, or simply tanning, Fordham’s campus felt alive and, for me personally, made me fall in love with it all over again.
When reflecting on the treacherous winter that students across campus dealt with, including two blizzards and temperatures in the negatives, many students felt isolated on campus due to spending the majority of their time indoors. This ultimately led to many students commiserating about their experiences with seasonal depression. As beautiful and fun to play in as the snow can be, two and a half straight months of snow, with classes canceled and little time spent outside, students were not only bored, but stuck spending time in the dorms. Students needed something that the darkness at 5 p.m. and trekking through the snow-covered streets couldn’t provide.
I remember the very first time it finally happened: a Thursday, with the weather forecast calling for temperatures in the high 70s and a UV index of eight. Students on and off campus immediately grabbed their Spikeball nets, picnic blankets and texted all their friends to meet outside on Edwards Parade. Its ideal location, right in the middle of campus with a beautiful view of Keating, provides a place where all students can gather and is large enough to collectively take a break from work, classes, being inside and just enjoy the warmth.
Eleanor Brown, FCLC ’29, said, “Sitting on Eddies is a nice break from the city, and a true Fordham student experience.”
A central theme is the community aspect of Edwards Parade, and I think that speaks to the issue winter brings up. Hannah Butler, FCRH ’29, commented on how “it gives [her] a sense of community and makes [her] feel more connected with all of the students.” The winter forces students to find a sense of community and socialization only within their classes or dorms, so the school feels much smaller than it truly is.
However, many of the students mention how they feel as though they are able to see so many different grades, groups of people and feel a part of one greater school and community, a genuine mission of college. Sofia Downes GSB ’29 added that “Eddies feels like a bonding experience at Fordham when practically every student is out with their friends. You see people you know and meet people you don’t. It’s great after such a long winter.”
Fordham, especially as a first-year, can feel extremely small: everyone lives on the same side of campus, you mainly take core classes and you mostly socialize within your grade. However, Eddies challenges this by bringing people together from the entire student body, seeing people you don’t normally interact with or see, with the common goal of simply enjoying the warmth. Although students typically sit with their friends or even alone on Eddies, the gates around it and the small area compared to somewhere like Martyrs’ lawn, force students to be a lot closer together, allowing for Spikeballs to be flying around, music to overlap and conversations to intersect with people around you, allowing a greater community to form.