Some students may have noticed a green shelter that was recently erected on the Commons Terrace.

This tent is called a Sukkah and is a pinnacle part of the Jewish holiday, Sukkot. To celebrate, spanning from Oct. 4 to Oct. 13, Hillel, an international organization with a student group on campus, has held many different social events inside of the Sukkah.

On the night of Tuesday, Oct. 10, Hillel continued a yearly tradition in holding a social available to everyone on campus. What differentiates this social from the others that Hillel holds is the invitation of Hillel executive board members. Among the members in attendance was Ben Goldberg, president of the Hillel board. This social was open to everyone on campus, allowing students to meet some of the Hillel officers.

Jeremy Fierstien, the director of the Hillel, campus rabbi and important figure in the Jewish community on campus, was also in attendance at the social. Between greeting newcomers and catching up with familiar faces, he had plenty to say about Sukkot and the importance of the Hillel on campus.

“Rabbis call this holiday a festival and it is basically a season of joy,” said Fierstein.

Sukkot is a holiday that falls after Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the day of repentance. After these two rather serious holidays, Sukkot is a time to relax and celebrate both life and the Jewish tradition.

A large part of Sukkot is gathering in the Sukkah to observe the long holiday. Everything during this holiday, as part of tradition, happens inside the Sukkah. Some of the more observant Jews will do everything, including eating and sleeping, inside the Sukkah for the duration of the holiday.

Because the Sukkah is so important to the holiday, Hillel focuses on holding socials inside the Sukkah for the rest of campus to experience Sukkot. Fierstein puts a large emphasis on “promoting respectful dialogue and experience,” during the duration of not only the holiday, but the whole year.

“The conversation is definitely very stimulating. We had a night where we had dinner and we were talking about everything,” said Reese Beyers, a freshman social work major.

The goal of the Hillel is not solely to promote Judaism across the campus. There is no membership within the Hillel; the group is open to all.

Fierstein said, “We hope to serve campus, not just the Jewish people.”

This is a prime reason why Sukkot, while being an important holiday with the Jewish faith, is also made to be a social event, drawing in people all over campus.

As the holiday comes to a close, those who are involved with Hillel leadership will continue to focus on drawing in more recognition on campus. Last year Hillel engaged approximately 400 people. According to Fierstein, “This year in the first month of programming, over ten programs, we engaged over 250 people.” Well on the way to topping last year’s numbers, the Hillel on UMBC will be looking to have a very big year, and it all starts with Sukkot.

Want to perform during Art Week? We have space available! We are looking for dancers, singers, jugglers, mimes, and more! Show of your passion onstage!

Performances will be on Thursday, November 16th from 11:30am - 1:30pm on Mainstreet, and Friday, November 17th from 5:00pm - 10:00pm in Lower Flat Tuesdays!

Fill out our form and we will be in touch!

Have questions? Please email commonvision@umbc.edu with the subject line "Art Week Performances".

Towson University is hosting a Graduate Studies Open House this Saturday, October 21st from 10:00 a.m. - noon.  

Registration link is below and the agenda is attached.  

https://www.towson.edu/academics/graduate/admissions/events.html

Students who register, attend, and decide to apply will receive application fee waivers from admissions.  

Dr. Niya Werts will be representing the Health Administration Master's program at the GraduateProgramandResource Fair beginning at 10:30 a.m. 

Over 3000 people waited in a line that stretched from the Retriever Activities Center (RAC) all the way down academic row on Friday night. Students, faculty, parents, friends and alumni waited anxiously to grab the best seats in the house.

The homecoming comedy show featuring The Daily Show host Trevor Noah was completely sold out. The event was sponsored by The Division of Student Affairs and organized by the student events board (seb).

Sophomore and business technology and administration major Rachael Sanchez is a member of seb.

“I am excited by the number of people who came out tonight. We’re excited to see alumni tonight as well,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez noted that seb relied on teamwork while organizing this event, which was the most well-attended out of all the homecoming events. Members of seb had different roles throughout the night to ensure the show ran smoothly. Sanchez helped control the line before the show.

People bought tickets for different reasons. Some were big fans of Trevor Noah. Some were excited to see the man who took over for Jon Stewart for the Daily Show. Many people came to celebrate the UMBC Homecoming festivities.

Freshman and linguistics major, James Lefkowitz said he purchased his ticket last minute, but he did not want to miss out on Trevor Noah speaking in different languages. Lefkowitz said, “Trevor Noah provides a powerful voice and perspective on South African humor.”

As soon as Noah walked onto the stage, the audience broke out into cheers. They gave him standing applause before he had spoken a single world. Trevor was very humbled by the turnout and enthusiasm from the UMBC community. After the show, he tweeted: “Tonight @UMBC was mind blowingly amazing. Wow what a great night. Thank you Retrievers!!!”

Yemeni Narayan is a senior HAPP major. “Trevor rose to the top,” Narayan said. “He came to the Daily Show during an interesting time in this country. Its a lot to handle since he’s an immigrant and it’s very admirable of him.”

Noah covered several topics including American politics and the Trump presidency. He used different impressions throughout the night including those of President Trump, former president Barack Obama, a native South African impression and the stereotypical Californian impression. Trevor made fun of the so called “American English” that Americans tend to use. He shared humorous stories of his experiences dealing with language barriers during his move to the United States from South Africa.

Noah had the entire crowd on the edge of their seats waiting for him to make the next punchline of his jokes. After a long night of impressions, jokes and empowering messages to the crowd,  Noah finished his show and was left with a farewell standing ovation from the UMBC community.

“Sing it just how Cardi B. would, but clean.” Despite these instructions, the first audience competitor was very engaged in his performance and accidentally dropped “fuck” in the second line of the song. His facial expression made it clear that he realized his mistake, but he continued on nonetheless.

The annual Homecoming Talent show was a night filled with not only talented groups and individuals, but also with competition, laughter, prizes, and spontaneity.

The emcees for the night were Tim Johnson, senior history major, and Andrea Davis, a senior psychology major. Johnson is a programmer in the (seb) executive board while Davis is the organization’s president.

Due to technology processes, soundcheck was delayed and the doors to the Ballroom were not opened until 8 p.m., the intended start time. The show started approximately 30 minutes late.

“Other than [the late start], everything went pretty smooth,” said Justin Milton, junior media communication studies major and main point member in charge of planning the talent show.

While there were plenty of talented acts, the emcees broke up the performances with spontaneous competitions, such as a Bodak Yellow singing competition, a dance-off, and a search under chairs for prize-winning wristbands.

The organization took the opportunity to give away Homecoming swag. The first 50 students to arrive received a Homecoming-themed travel mug, some with bonus prizes inside. Inside one cup was a ticket to the sold-out Trevor Noah comedy performance. At several points throughout the show, the hosts threw homecoming t-shirts into the crowd.

Some contestants were in established on-campus groups, like Retriever Bhangra and UMBeats, but others were solo artists vying to promote their own musical endeavors. Several acts, including rapper Drew Lynch and poet Benjamin Ballah, performed original material.

“I appreciated the creativity of certain rappers’ lyrics because they gave insight into students’ personal thoughts,” said senior double financial economics and global studies major Kelly Wan.

Many acts plugged their various online platforms before or after taking the stage.

One of the bassists from UMBeats took it a step further: “I know a lot of people were plugging their social media and I don’t have a Soundcloud or a Snapchat, but, 404-…-0264… ladiesssss?”

The Student Events Board promoted the show on their social media platforms to encourage students to audition. They also reached out to their contacts in performing arts groups on campus.

This is the first time we had more people apply than we had spots, so we had to cut people.”

Organizers accepted 12 acts into the show, but only 11 performed because one act did not submit their information in time.

They had auditions in late September over the course of two days in the Commons Sportszone. Milton, Kaila, and the club’s advisor listened to all auditions and graded them, eliminating about 5 acts.

The judges consisted of one student and two staff members: junior graphic design major Gerardo Herrara-Cortes, Student Life Coordinator for Student Engagement Jane Cruz, and Associate Director of Event and Conference Services of the Commons and Student Life Joel DeWyer.

The top three acts chosen by the judges were Retriever Bhangra, a traditional Indian dance troupe, Amber, who performed a freestyle song and rap with no background track, and Elfrieda, who sang Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You.”

The winner received a Homecoming swag bag, an early entry ticket into the Trevor Noah show, and a free pass to the Homecoming Carnival.

“It’s a tradition at this point. It’s well known, and we always have a really good turnout,” said Milton. “I would say as far as homecoming, this would be the third biggest event besides the comedy show and the carnival.”

The University Center Ballroom was nearly filled for the duration of event. Organizers estimated around 300 people were in attendance.