Tag Archives: Center for Student Experience

Puppy Love: Play Day lifts spirits during the dog days of week ten

Communing with canines at Play Day

Communing with canines at Play Day

The announcements for the Center for the Student Experience-sponsored “Play Day” touted an enticing array of activities designed to promote maximum stress release and lighthearted fun.  The calendar of events read like a childhood fantasy birthday party come to life: ceramic painting, chair yoga, pizza, goodie bags, ice cream sundaes and, perhaps most intriguing of all, therapy dogs. To this reader, that last element conjured visions of frankfurters spiked with ginko biloba. It was hard not to wonder whether this was some trendy new food experiment engineered to fuse childhood nostalgia with natural healing properties.

As it turns out, the above type of therapy dog is a culinary idea whose time has yet to come. Play Day’s dogs, of course, were of the canine variety. And their therapeutic benefits were immediately apparent to anyone who stepped foot into Room 201, the Play Day hub, where clusters of students huddled around the three furry pets laying on the floor basking in all the attention.

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With Volunteers’ Help, Late-Night Breakfast Serves 400

For Art Center students, it’s the most anticipated meal of the term

Like holiday crowds at a big box store, students begin lining up well before the doors open. What’s the big attraction? Art Center’s Late-Night Breakfast, a longtime tradition sponsored by the Center for Student Experience (CSE), that treats students to a free breakfast buffet in the feverish final weeks of the school term. The student dining room is currently open 24 hours a day (even when food is not being served) and usually packed at this hour. The hard part, says Cafeteria Manager Ben Herrera, is clearing everyone out to set up for the event.

Fred Fehlau at Late Night Breakfast

Provost Fred Fehlau joins fellow volunteers in serving students Late-Night Breakfast on Wed., April 10, 2013. All photos by Sylvia Sukop.

On this Wednesday night, Herrera joins nearly a dozen staff and executive team members—along with one student—volunteering their time in a show of support for students in the throes of finals. Donning black aprons and transparent latex gloves shortly before 10 p.m., the volunteers take their places behind eight stainless steel serving trays and two giant bowls of fruit salad spread out on a long table.

“What are you serving?” asks Betsy Edmunds, Associate Director of CSE’s Student Development Programs, as she walks the line greeting her team. They respond with a brightness usually reserved for daylight hours. Pancakes! Hash browns! Sausage patties! Scrambled eggs with cheese!

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Art Center Vies for the Tourney Cup Tomorrow

Photo Courtesy of Ann Erdman

Who said creatives can’t be athletes, too?

Pasadena City College’s Jackie Robinson Stadium will be a colorful and competitive place tomorrow evening as teams from area colleges compete for the second annual Pasadena Collegiate Field Tournament Cup. Art Center, Caltech, PCC, Fuller Seminary, Le Cordon Bleu and Pacific Oaks College will battle it out for the coveted title. And we need you to cheer Art Center on and witness us crush the competition!

Everyone is invited for a day of fun, games and collegiality. Creative challenges will include Amazing Russet Race, Monster Croquet, Frisbee Touchdown Toss, Lego Car Design Challenge, Tower of Babel and Capture the Flag.

Free parking for the event will be available in Lots 5 and 5A at the corner of Del Mar Boulevard and Bonnie Street. Robinson Stadium is located on the south side of the PCC campus near Del Mar Boulevard between Hill and Bonnie avenues.

The Pasadena Collegiate Field Tournament is sponsored by the city of Pasadena. Art Center’s participation is spearheaded by Art Center Student Government and Center for the Student Experience.

Photo Courtesy of Ann Erdman

Immediately following the tournament, participants and spectators are invited to a tailgate party at Caltech’s Avery House where the Championship Cup will be presented to the winning team.

Avery House is located down the street from Jackie Robinson Stadium on Holliston Avenue at Del Mar.

Can you think of a better way to spend a Friday evening?

Go Art Center!

Pasadena Collegiate Field Tournament
Friday, April 8, 6 p.m. arrivals; 6:30 p.m. opening ceremony
Pasadena City College
Jackie Robinson Stadium

Celebrating Art Center’s Many Cultures

Last week marked the annual Celebration of Cultures, organized and presented by the Center for the Student Experience (CSE). A week’s worth of fun and activities are organized to celebrate the dynamic cultural diversity of Art the campus community.

The events included a Cultural Desserts event presenting a variety of delicious deserts from across the globe; an International Cheese Tasting class taught by the Cheese Store of Pasadena; a travel slideshow featuring travel images from students, faculty and staff; the Chill Out Cart, which passed out frozen treats across campus; a Global Village featuring food, games and music from around the world; and a Food Club Outing to Wat Dong Moon in Silver Lake.

The celebration was a lot of fun for everyone—view the images below from the week!

CSE Lantern Festival: Sleep and Happiness

At Art Center’s annual Chinese Lantern Festival held today, the most common wishes penned on bright orange and red lanterns were for sleep and happiness.

Photo by Adam Lopez

Not necessarily at the same time–but one can certainly see a connection when realizing they were written by art and design students.

About 75 students, faculty and staff entrusted their wants, whims and yearnings to the promise of the lantern at today’s event, held by Art Center’s Center for the Student Experience (CSE).

Next week, all lanterns created today will hang along both sides of the Bridge for all to enjoy.

A sample of some of the other wishes:

  • “To see beyond them all”
  • “I will travel to nearby places and imagine they are far”
  • “To see her again”
  • “Peace inside”
  • “More inspiration”

Lunar New Year celebrations traditionally end with a lantern festival, during which colorful lanterns are lit and released into the air. This year the event lands on Thursday, February 17, to correspond with the full moon. In many Asian countries, releasing the lanterns is believed to bring good fortune and prosperity.  People write their wishes on paper lanterns before releasing them in hopes that they will be granted.

Here’s to plenty of sleep and happiness to all of our students!

Photo by Adam Lopez