Community Connections

Vi llanova University's Fall Festival: A Celebration of Inclusion and Acceptance

Villanova University's Fall Festival is the largest student-run Special Olympics event in the world. The Special Olympics committee contains five subcommittees, comprised of 106 students who work all year to put the event together. Organizers say their mission is to create a more inclusive world.

Mary Kilmartin, the director of Human Resources, said the five subgroups are: Competition, Special Events, Support Services, Administration, and Human Resources. “I think one cool aspect is that each has a different lens of the athletes experiences coming to campus and I think every year we try and push the boundary,” Kilmartin said. “Whether it's creating stronger evaluations, doing off court interviews with competitions, whether it's expanding O-Town or providing more opportunities to speak.” During the first weekend in November, Villanova hosts over 1,000 athletes, 400 coaches, 5,000 volunteers, and many corporate sponsors for Fall Festival. The athletes compete in Olympic type sports: bocce, long-distance running, power lifting, roller skating, flag football, soccer, and volleyball. Athletes train all year and come ready to compete. “Preparing for Fall Fest is a lot of practices, some of which we as Villanova students are welcome to join and train with the athletes and just get to know them,” said Festival Director Karoline Menze. “ People are able to make really good friendships and it's within all of the different counties of Pennsylvania that the teams perform in.” The weekend of Fall Festival, Villanova Special Olympics club members and volunteers dance with athletes and show their support across campus. If athletes and volunteers aren't at the competitions, they're at Olympic Town, or O-Town, at the Quad on Villanova's campus. Menze says that this is the hub of Fall Fest for the weekend. “It occurs Saturday all day until the late afternoon and Sunday morning. We have a DJ, we have student groups from all over campus set up tables along the Quad in front of Bartley and run different activities and do different things that are focused on athlete interactions. This allows for post-competition or precompetition athletes to be able to meet Villanova students and have a good time celebrating their efforts for these events.” Trevor, a long-distance runner, shared what he valued most during the weekend. “My favorite part of Fall Fest is, of course, the opening ceremonies, I love seeing the torch being lit up, the LPH flash mob dance, and the streamers and basketball game, and of course the Olympic Village.” Menze was excited for the return of the Healthy Athletes program to campus. “Clinicians come and help give screenings to Special Olympics Pennsylvania athletes who are competing,” she said. “There is a program where athletes can get new glasses that never had glasses before, and I think that's super awesome that we were able to do that this year and have the resources and ability to do that and hopefully in years to come, it's something pretty remarkable that isn't always at the forefront.”

Committee members feel that Special Olympics is a life changing movement of people helping people. According to Faculty Advisor Steve Koch, the entire Villanova Community feels its impact. “It's the formation of the human spirit to champion the fight for dignity. That's what Fall Fest does. It helps to change attitudes and ultimately change behaviors,” Koch said. “It lines up so well with our mission of being an Augustinian Catholic university: servant leadership and trying to create a more just and caring world. That's what Villanovans are here for.”

Villanova students can join Special Olympics to help prepare for next year's event. For more information, visit novaspo.org. This article is an excerpt from a project by Skylar Musick, a junior at Villanova and intern at Main Line Network in downtown Radnor. The full video, as well as other local television shows and features, will be available on youtube.com/@MLTVMainLineNetwork.