A (Belated) Christmas Grievance

creativity, the talent – I only wish there could have been a sequel this Christmas season.

One of Villanova’s greatest gifts of the holiday season is the community-wide email from University President Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD wishing us all a joyous Christmas season. Even though it is no longer the holiday season, my despair about this past year’s Christmas email has reached into the new semester, until now, when I have an opportunity to air my grievance.

Why did Fr. Peter not sing in this year’s Christmas email?

When opened last year’s email, the last thing I was expecting was a Villanova rendition of “My Favorite Things” sung by the president of the University himself. It did not take me long after my arrival to Villanova to discover that our president held a PhD in musical theater. This intrigued me, but I never quite understood the scope of Father Peter’s love of music until his Christmas email.

The email made me inexplicably joyous, got me into the Christmas spirit and genuinely impressed me. In fact, I favorited the email and saved it so I knew that Fr. Peter’s lovely song was never more than a few clicks away. This year, my expectations were high. When I saw the email with a link to the video, I was ecstatic. I opened it the minute it was sent out and watched expectantly with a smile on my face. It was time for me to hear a new song.

But imagine my disappointment when I found no singing in this year’s Christmas message.

There is no explanation for this great let-down. Perhaps the president of the University had other matters to attend to and did not have time to record a singing message. Perhaps he could not think of a song to parody Villanova. Perhaps he was simply not in the mood to sing this year, though I would find this hard to believe. Whatever the reason, I was left unsatisfied when this year’s Christmas greeting concluded.

I only hope that the reason for the absence of Fr. Peter’s singing was not because he thinks no one appreciates it. “Raindrops on Mendel and sunrise on Higgins…” lives rent-free in my mind. The

What’s Fizzin’ at Villanova?

Choi Staff Writer

“The two soccer girls riding on one scooter together everywhere together.”

“Let’s go catssss”

“When there isn’t a seat for u at the conn table but u wanna hear the tea.”

These are just a few of the popular posts that Villanova students can see and relate to on the new app Fizz.

Fizz is an app exclusive to college students that was first released in October of 2022, and has recently become popular on Villanova’s campus. This anonymous social media platform allows students to upload text, posts, memes and pictures. After they are posted, students can comment, like and dislike the posts.

Fizz is similar to Yik Yak, another social media platform that has the same goal of bringing a community together. However, unlike Yik Yak, Fizz makes students log in with their school email address, verifying that they are truly members of the college community rather than just within the same geographical location, which is what Yik Yak is based on.

Because of this, Fizz is more applicable to Villanova students and much of the content shared has a bit of an “insider” feel to Villanova’s campus and culture.

“It’s definitely an interesting app,” an anonymous student said. “I end up checking it pretty often to see what people are up to.”

While some students have been enjoying the app, others are a little more skeptical about giving it a try.

“I feel like it’s a repeat of Yik Yak. I don’t know… it just feels wrong to give them my school email address too–who knows if any of my professors are spying on us through the app?” another anonymous student explained, laughing.

This raises an interesting point. Because the app collects college email addresses, college administration can likely become involved and eliminate some of the anonymity that the app advertises. However, it is also important to note that Fizz is not formally affiliated with Villanova by any means.

Another similarity between Yik Yak and Fizz is the concept of “karma.” On Yik Yak, the point value system is branded as “Yakarma,” but these two platforms essentially utilize this same idea. Users who post will receive upvotes and downvotes, which is what the “karma” numerical score is based on.

Fizz built off this system add-

Villanova’s Christmas festivities are second to none, in my opinion. There is nothing more joyous during the holiday season than a campus completely decorated for Christmas. And on top of the decorations, we have the Christmas message. It is wonderful, of course, that our university president sends a message at all. Many – if not most – universities do not celebrate the holiday season at a level even close to that of Villanova.

I appreciate the decorations. I appreciate the extra festivities. I appreciate that I was wished a merry Christmas from Fr. Peter. However, the only thing better than getting wished a merry Christmas is getting sung a merry Christmas. No gifts compare to the gift of song. I only hope that in the future there will be more singing Christmas greetings.

When things are not going so well or one needs a smile on their face, look no further than Fr. Peter’s 2021 Christmas Message. I often think of it myself. “When the twilight shadows gather, when I’m feeling sad, I simply recall [Father Peter’s song], and then I don’t feel so bad.” ing rewards that users can receive for completing certain items on the app. For example, Fizz users can receive an award for their first comment on a post or if they created a post that received 100 upvotes.

This feature prompts users to be more interactive with the app and gives people greater motivation to engage themselves in the Fizz community, which is another promising addition to Yik Yak that I believe Fizz provides.

As for me, Fizz is an app I am still exploring. I only recently found out about it this semester and I enjoy checking it occasionally to see the various opinions and funny memes that students come up with.

So far, I have found that Fizz is different from Yik Yak in the sense that most of its content, at least here at Villanova, is heavily based on experiences that exclusively happen here on our campus. Thus far, Fizz appears to have exceeded Yik Yak in the goal of uniting our Villanova community and sharing student stories, interactions and relatable experiences.

I have found more vulgar terms and humor on Yik Yak than on Fizz and, while some may say that the app is a repetitive concept, I believe that it is more so a big inside joke that brings our student voices and ideas together.