Gingerbread house-making is the latest in a series of ’Gate After Dark events designed to engage students in a non-academic context. On Thursday, Dec. 5, Habitat for Humanity — operating out of Colgate’s Center for Outreach, Volunteerism and Education (COVE) — boasted an impressive turnout in the O’Connor Campus Center (Coop) multi-media room, where gingerbread kits and affordable housing were the topics of conversation.
Junior Lindsay Hess, and co-leader of Habitat for Humanity, shared the goals of her club and the event itself.
“Most of our club work involves volunteering directly with local organizations and Habitat affiliates for home-building and construction-based projects around the local community. Gingerbread house-making is a good way to engage with the Colgate community for a change and spread awareness on campus,” Hess said.
Sophomore Gaeli Keffer-Scharpf, who is a member of Habitat for Humanity, described her excitement about attending the event.
“I had a friend send me a little ad for this [event], and I thought it was so cute,” Keffer-Scharpf said. “I wasn’t expecting so many people here, but I’m glad it’s such a great turnout.”
An otherwise bleak backdrop of snow and ice served as a whimsical setting for gingerbread crafting, where students renounced finals week in favor of something much more enjoyable. In accordance with a liberal arts education, attendees like senior Leah Greenstein used a variety of techniques from a variety of inspirational sources to create their gingerbread homes.
“We’re going for a neoclassical traditional style,” Greenstein said. “We ate a lot of the decorations already, but it works with the minimalism theme.”
Other construction sites, like that of junior Natalie Urban, subscribed to the “ice-as-you-go” approach and found that a theme emerged organically along the way. Urban added that the event was a useful (if unorthodox) way to study for her upcoming art history final.
“Anything can be art! My mom’s an interior designer, so she’s my inspiration for this house,” Urban said.
Others, like senior Ronan Mullaney, discovered a newfound passion for the arts.
“Before this event, I didn’t have any architectural ambitions. But I’ve definitely been inspired, and now I have a greater appreciation for [architecture],” said Mullaney.
Senior Katie Keyes took a slightly different stance than Mullaney did.
“Personally, this satisfies my architectural desire just enough that I don’t have to go and do more of it,” Keyes said. “It’s the perfect way to get back into studying for finals.”
Even without an obvious academic application, Colgate’s winter traditions provide a healthy distraction from finals in favor of seasonal offerings. Festive lighting down Willow Path and public skating on Sundays at the Class of 1965 Arena are other student favorites. They often inspire a much-needed hour away from the computer for students like sophomore Koko Nagatomo, who attended the gingerbread house-making event.
“I feel ready to go [for finals]! This was a nice little study break. I came from the library — the walk up was treacherous — but everyone’s really happy to be here,” Nagatomo said.
