September 19th, 2023, is every on-campus organization’s favorite day at Villanova – 1842 Day. 1842 Day celebrates the year Villanova was founded by allowing on-campus organizations to gain additional funding by participating in different activities, such as Cat Cabs, tabling, and Power Hour. This year, more than 70 on-campus organizations partook in 1842 Day, ranging from Greek Life on Campus, on-campus performance groups, mental health awareness organizations and more.
“I love seeing other members of Women’s Ice Hockey across campus on 1842 Day raising money for the club and sport we love so much,” said sophomore Nadia Balduf.
The 2023 1842 Day marks the seventh 1842 Day on Villanova’s Campus.
“1842 Day was started in 2017, and we are very happy to say that we never took a break from 1842 Day during the pandemic” shared Marci Paton, the Executive Director of Annual Giving. “1842 Day has grown so much both on and off campus through students, staff, professors, parents, and alumni. Each year, we see donor numbers and amounts increasing significantly”.
The festivities started nice and early on Tuesday, with Cat Cabs running from 10am-4pm. Cat Cabs are the most popular fundraising form among students.
“1842 Day is for the students, we love seeing how students are eager to line up all day for Cat Cabs and donate to their organizations on campus” Paton said.
With a maximum donation of $250, students can get a ride around campus or to class, and answer Villanova trivia as they go, gaining money for their organization with each question they get correct. Questions range from how many Holy Grounds locations are on campus, to what dorm Bradley Cooper lived in during his freshman year. (For all our main campus freshmen, the correct answer is Fedigan Hall.) One or two students at a time can ride in a Cab and work individually or together in order to raise money for the organization of their choice.
“It was so fun riding in the Cat Cab to raise money for my club.” said sophomore Kara McGoldrick.
Between 7:30pm and 8:30pm the University celebrated Power Hour. During this hour, each organization is provided an additional link and QR code, and based on a tier of involvement scale, top organizations in each tier based on the amount of donors, will receive an additional 500 dollars towards their organizations budget.
“Last year was the first year of Power Hour, with around 30 organizations collecting 921 gifts in that hour,” Paton said. “This year with 71 organizations partaking, we expect the gifts to explode and multiply.”
Organizations held a tabling event at the Oreo, where the band, dance, and cheer teams performed, as well as a variety of on campus acapella and dance groups. Organizations provided snacks and activities, as well as information on how to become more involved within their group on campus.
This 1842 Day, the university raised more than 13.3 million dollars, and 645,000, was raised for individual organizations across Villanova’s campus. The organizations across Villanova’s campus are eager to receive this funding.
“What a lot of students do not know that they can continue to work with the university advance office throughout the entire school year” said Paton. “We love seeing all the on-campus organizations come together to raise money for clubs and organizations that have impacted their lives as current students, alumni, and or parents”.
