After waking up early Monday morning to begin a day of partying on a school day, Vijen Patel knew St. Patrick’s Day at the University of Notre Dame was something special to celebrate.

‘We got a bunch of kegs, and we had a huge party in the morning, it started at like 9 a.m. and then by two o’clock all the kegs were gone and afterward there were about like, I imagine probably 15 off-campus parties,’ Patel, a UND senior said.

Students at UND were fervent with excitement after learning that St. Patrick’s Day, the annual feast of patron Saint Patrick, would occur while school was in session for the first time in three years.

St. Patrick’s Day is considered one of the biggest party days of the year, according to an article in The Observer, the University of Notre Dame’s student-run newspaper.

The celebration drew particular attention at UND, due to the school’s nickname – the Fightin’ Irish.

Dennis Brown, the spokesman for UND, realized this event would occur during school hours and tried to relay a message of safety during the holiday.

‘Well it’s just the nature of the calendar, and so we’re aware that every few years that’s going to occur and we try to work with the student government and within the residence halls to help students realize that while it’s good to celebrate – be responsible,’ he said.

The university took steps to remind its students to be careful during the festivities. While there was no campus-wide e-mail sent out, administration did work in smaller sections on campus.

‘It’s more internal within the residence halls with directors, so no, there’s not some big campaign or anything like that,’ Brown said.

Ryan Ripp, a sophomore finance major at UND, said everyone could feel the buzz when they found out about the event.

‘People kind of figured that out as soon as we got back in January,’ he said. ‘People started looking at Spring Break schedules and stuff, and they were pretty excited about the fact that we would be able to celebrate it.’

UND also benefited from the Catholic Church’s decision to move St. Patrick’s Day to Saturday from its original Monday date, leaving more time to celebrate.

‘Everyone celebrated Saturday, people got up really early and started partying pretty early, but they also then partied on Monday as well,’ Ripp said.

The UND Department of Public Safety would not provide any information concerning any occurrences during the holiday, but Patel cited only a few minor infractions he saw during the day’s events.

‘A couple kids got in trouble, but nothing should be too serious at all, it’s all alright,’ he said.

As for the holiday itself, Ripp said it lived up to the expectations students had for it.

‘Yeah I mean it was a really fun day,’ he said. ‘I mean it’s not like absolutely insane, wild, people do ridiculous stuff, it’s just kind of another fun day just to like hang out with your friends and drink and party and stuff.’

Patel will also remember St. Patrick’s Day on campus as a special memory of his senior year.

‘I know on behalf of my roommates and I, we probably had the most fun on St. Patrick’s Day,’ he said. ‘It was a great part of the senior year second semester thing, so I’m very happy about it.’

wfmcmill@syr.edu

Published on March 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm