Valentine’s Day here at Fordham University was about more than chocolates and flowers. Multiple clubs took the opportunity to reach out to the student body for activities ranging from fundraising to good times.

St. Jude Up ’til Dawn at Fordham University held a Valentine’s Day-themed No More Cancer Rally between 5 to 7p.m. on Feb. 12 in the McGinley Lobby in which club members raised money in order to send to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Katelyn Cody, FCRH ’20, executive director of the Fordham University chapter of St. Jude Up ‘til Dawn, said that the rally being held on Valentine’s Day helped encourage Fordham students to participate.

“Our club decided that for this semester we wanted to format our rally as a Valentine’s Day-themed tabling event in McGinley as a way to maximize the number of students we reached with the event,” Cody said.

Fordham students were able to purchase cookies and candy just in time for dinner and participate in making Valentine’s cards that would be sent to children currently in the hospital.

Autism Speaks U held a Valentine’s Day-themed bingo on Feb. 15 where Fordham students could get together in a safe space in order to play bingo and enjoy food with people on the autism spectrum.

Club President Emily Bates, FCRH ’20, said that the event was a huge success.

“Our Valentine’s Bingo was not the first Bingo event we have hosted, but it was our biggest, with 80 attendees,” Bates said. “The night went well with all food enjoyed, friendly competition and a gaggle of kids in our sensory space playing with sensory toys. We are very happy with how Bingo went and look forward to planning events for a larger audience as our reach becomes wider.”

The Fordham Ramblers’ Ramblergram tabling is a yearly event where students and faculty can purchase Ramblergrams, short songs to be performed by the Ramblers on Valentine’s Day in front of a person of the buyer’s choice.

Ramblers’ President Teddy Berg, FCRH ’20, said that the Ramblergram tabling and subsequent delivered Ramblergrams were a huge success.

“…the tabling went very well,” he said. “We divided the day into 15 minute intervals beginning at 9 and ending at 7. We ended up selling all of these slots, and were busy going delivering Ramblergrams all day on Valentine’s Day. We also sold a number of Ramblergrams via email. The event itself was a great time, like it is every year”.

Fellow Ramblers member Ryan Corr, FCRH ’21, echoed the sentiment.

“Tabling went really well this year, and we had a great turnout,” Corr said. “We were all excited, so there was tons of energy all week, and I think that energy helped us on Valentine’s Day too. I’m really happy how it all turned out and very thankful to be part of such a tradition.”

Additionally, Valentine’s Day at Fordham would not be complete without the Campus Activities Board’s scheduled activities for Valentine’s Week.

This year’s lineup included a Secret Valentine’s Delivery, where students could write anonymous Valentine’s cards for other students and have them delivered. Win a Date! was a blind date competition where a student had to find a special connection with volunteer contestants by asking the volunteers questions without seeing them. CAB also hosted a Valentine’s Waffle and Stuffed Animals giveaway, where students could get free, freshly made waffles and build-your-own stuffed animal kits. Finally, there was a Love Pies at Pugsley’s Pizza event with the Weekend Activities Committee.

Lily Ochs, FCRH ’20, attended the Love Pies event at Pugsley’s Pizza and said she truly did feel the love.

“Each pair made their love pie one by one with Sal, so we waited in line for a while, and then eventually got to make our lovely pizza,” Ochs said. “It was very interactive and we truly did put our hearts into it. (It was a) perfect date-sized za to share. And shaped like a kooky little heart.”