Kylie McGovern, Editor

On Sept. 10 through 12, Campus Philly hosted their annual Collegefest for La Salle students and other students in the area. Collegefest is a weekend-long event for students to explore Philadelphia by visiting 25+ museums for free, free SEPTA rides, a Campus Philly block party, and contests. Students signed up for this event by filling out a form with information regarding their graduation year, university and information about their college experience. Campus Philly’s mission is to “fuel inclusive economic growth by empowering diverse college students and recent graduates to explore, live and work in Greater Philadelphia.” Collegefest partners were various colleges and universities in the area including Drexel University, Saint Joseph’s University and Temple University to name a few. Although La Salle University is not currently a partner with Campus Philly, many La Salle students enjoy Collegefest each year and are encouraged by Residence Life staff to attend so they can become acquainted with the Philadelphia area. 

Although many La Salle University students hail from the greater Philadelphia area, Collegefest is an opportunity for out-of-state students like Junior Emily Allgair, who is from MD, to experience the joys the city has to offer for a free or low cost. Allgair says that this event is a “great way to see the city that I am not super familiar with. I loved being able to go to the Philadelphia art museum with my roommates. Collegefest was an opportunity to see the city and get off campus.” 

Similarly, Junior Grace McKenna who is from Long Island, NY said “Last year was my first time at CollegeFest and I had a lot of fun so I was excited to attend again this year. I loved being able to explore more of the city!”

La Salle Students from nearby like Junior Claire Ortiz from Lancaster, PA also got to enjoy the treats of Collegefest by visiting the Barnes Foundation and using free septa rides to travel there. Ortiz said that her experience at the Barnes Foundation at Collegefest was “easy to access using free SEPTA rides.” Ortiz explained that there were students all over center city Philadelphia enjoying Collegefest. Ortiz joked that she called these students “Collegefest-core” 

Luke Szyzkiewicz,  a Junior from Delran, NJ, went to Collegefest for the first time this year. Szyzkiewicz explained that he thought “the free septa rides were wonderful and getting into the museum was also fantastic.” Szyzkiewicz explained that his day began by getting on the subway at the Olney Transportation Center, heading to Reading Terminal Market for breakfast, and then going to the Barnes foundation. Szyzkiewicz concluded that Collegefest is “a very nice way to explore the city on a budget.” One critique Szyzkiewicz had regarding Collegefest was that he wished there was a way to connect his CollegeFest  registration to his SEPTA app for easy access.