With Villanova’s 37th annual Special Olympics (SpO) Fall Festival taking over campus this past weekend, O-Town stood out as one of the weekend’s most vibrant and lively highlights. On Saturday and Sunday, student clubs and organizations filled the quad with games, crafts and activities for athletes, their families and volunteers to enjoy.
O-Town is organized and put together by the Entertainment Committee on SpO committee. This year, the committee was composed of senior chair Taylor Wiseley, senior Martina Penelas, junior Mark Fusca and sophomore Peyton Loftis. Together, with the work of their Volunteer Coordinators (VCs) and other volunteers, the entertainment team produced another successful O-Town.
“Planning for O-Town begins in early March with the selection of the theme for that year’s Fall Fest, and the theme then influences the aesthetic aspects of O-Town such as the banner, balloon arch and tablecloth colors,” Wiseley said. “Throughout the spring and summer, we reach out to on and off-campus performers to perform throughout the two days, as well as DJ Dave, who has been DJing in O-Town for over 20 years. In the fall, we reach out to as many on-campus student groups and organizations as possible to sign up to run O-Town booths. This process consists of coming up with unique and exciting booth ideas to propose to the different groups, and communicating guidelines and expectations to all student volunteers. It is an extensive process, so it requires the insight, creativity and dedication of all four committee members to make O-Town happen every year.”
This year, over 70 clubs, organizations and other campus groups came together to host these tables for O-Town.
“One of the most unique elements about Fall Fest is how it brings the entire Villanova community together, so getting to see so many students get involved running O-Town booths is one of my favorite parts of the weekend.” Wiseley said. “Students running booths have the opportunity to get to know so many athletes throughout the weekend and form friendships that will last for many Fall Fests to come. It brings me so much joy to watch Villanova students fall in love with SpO the way I have.”
For Alpha Phi Omega (APO), the co-ed service fraternity on Villanova’s campus, it was without a question that they decided to partake in O-Town.
“We decided to table at O-Town because Special Olympics is a perfect embodiment of our core values in APO service, friendship and leadership. It’s inspiring to see our community come together to celebrate and promote inclusion,” president Pat Cregan said. “The joy of Special Olympics is contagious and if you look around, there’s not a single person without a smile on their face.”
For many National Panhellenic Conference sororities, Interfraternity Council fraternities and Intercultural Greek Council organizations O-Town is both a way to support the Villanova community and members of Greek Life who serve on committee, as a VC or volunteer throughout the weekend.
“As Campus Activities Co-Chair for Chi Omega, I was lucky enough to be in charge of running our table this year, and had an amazing time handing out and applying temporary tattoos to students, athletes, families and the Villanova community,” senior Maggie Parham said.
For some students, the opportunity to table in O-Town provides the chance to still participate in SpO even if they missed the volunteer deadlines to be a part of the weekend in other ways.
“It always felt like it was too late to get involved with SpO, but helping out with another organization at O-Town enabled me to leave my mark and have really great interactions with the athletes and their families,” Parham said. “O-Town truly is electric, and it is so wonderful to see so many student organizations contribute to such an amazing cause.”
While SpO weekend may have concluded, the impact of O-Town and all the organizations who came out to support the mission of inclusion and to support the athletes remains.
