Allegheny students woke up on Tuesday morning to no classes and an expanded form of Gator Day. The annual academic and professional development event saw a number of new additions this year, including a new central direction for the entire event.
“This year was the first year that we developed some learning outcomes around Gator Day, and those are 12 distinct areas of development for students for academic and professional success,” said Third- and Fourth-Year Class Dean Jonathan May, who headed the event’s planning team. “So we asked for presenters to focus their presentation on one or more of those areas.”
Those learning outcomes ranged from selecting a major and enhancing study skills to examining diversity, equity and inclusion, May said.
Another addition to this year’s program was the “Gator Done Den,” a gathering in the lobby of the campus center. Different student services — ranging from the Office of Community Engagement to the registrar’s office — tabled during breakfast and lunch.
“They’re offering on-site task services, so you can pay bills, you can put in a work order for a technology concern, you can meet with the writing consultants and get a writing coaching appointment,” May said. “It’s exciting — a one-stop shop for all the services.”
During the lunch hour, students who engaged with the different tables could enter a prize drawing: Jahyra Williams, ’24, won a whiteboard calendar while Sam Roque, ’27, won a $25 bookstore shopping spree and Gracie Belfiore, ’27, won a $50 bookstore shopping spree.
All told, Gator Day 2023 included 35 sessions, up from around two dozen last year. However, despite doubling the number of registered attendees, overall student participation fell by about thirty students.
In an email Wednesday, May wrote that a total of 169 students attended the event, down from 198 last year.

Students that did attend included Madeline Hawkins, ’27, who went out of curiosity about what the day would look like.
“I liked how it was conference-style,” Hawkins said, adding that she learned a lot.
“I really liked learning about international trips and study abroad,” added Destiny Gee, ’27, who plans on spending a semester away and wanted to find out more information about Allegheny’s study away program.
Others, like Nickel Spartz, ’26, preferred the events focused on professional development, like the sessions on interviews and resume-building hosted by the Center for Career and Professional Development.
“It got me connected with members of the Allegheny staff I may not have been connected to before,” Spartz said.
For some students, Gator Day was just a day off from classes.
“It’s a day for me to catch up on work,” said Patrick Sharp, ’26.
Andrew Germann, ’26, spent the weekend at home, also to catch up on assignments.
“I went to all the relevant stuff last year,” Germann said. “It’s mostly for freshmen.”
Emily Adams, ’25, echoed the same sentiment.
“I didn’t really think I needed to do anything super important,” Adams said.
Despite a decrease in attendance, there was an increase in student presenters during the day.
“I’m really proud of students stepping up and getting involved with the Gator Day workshops and wanting to present,” May said.
Among them was Zula Stenger, ’25, who described it as, “an honor” to present to students about her summer abroad in Sweden studying welfare policy. Stenger was one of nine student fellows with the Center for Business and Economics who spoke about their own professional experiences in a session in the Pelletier Collaboratory.
Though Stenger’s summer abroad was not sponsored by Allegheny and required significant independent work on her part, Stenger nonetheless credited her experience to Allegheny’s “unique liberal arts education.” A Business major and Political Science/Art double minor, Stenger’s idea to work abroad came from a Political Science class, while much of the support came from the Business department’s Board of Visitors.
“You shouldn’t be afraid to go for things that seem like a long shot,” Stenger said after the session.
Not all of the sessions were specifically career- or curriculum-focused either — some sessions examined maintaining personal wellness and navigating traumatic experiences. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion held confidential listening sessions for students, faculty and staff to assess the community’s needs, as part of an institutional study into improving student retention.
And some sessions tied back into student involvement: among the day’s first sessions was “Event Planning 101” in the Schultz Banquet Hall. Director of Conference & Event Services Lynn McManness-Harlan used the space to walk an audience of around a dozen students through the process of setting up a program on campus.
“Everything’s an event, and everyone’s an event planner,” McManness-Harlan told students, adding that she considered the session itself an event in her setup process.
McManness-Harlan also said that the session was developed a few years ago specifically to connect student organizations with the college’s event planning resources and systems.
Next year, Gator Day will coincide with Election Day; in addition to classes being canceled and the normal schedule of sessions, students will be encouraged to vote in local, state and national elections.
“That’s going to be a really big, exciting day,” May said. “You’re going to see a number of civically-engaged opportunities leading up to Gator Day.”