Upper West Brings Back Halloween Event

RA’s Caterina Sweet and Kiana Pathirana getting Upper West Residents in the Halloween Spirit by handing out candy. Photo by Adele Alexander ‘25

Things got spooky at Marist College, as the annual residents' Hall-oween, hosted by Marist College Housing and Residential Life, returned to campus on Oct. 30. This family-friendly and festive event invited local children and their families to trick-or-treat through the on-campus townhouses of Upper West Cedar.

Children were welcome to go door-to-door, where participating residents were handing out candy. Additionally, various games were set up throughout the lawn, including witch's hat ring toss, pumpkin toss, mummy wrapping and more.

Residents' Hall-oween has been a long-standing tradition at Marist, connecting students and the local Hudson Valley community. In years past, there have been up to 400 people who came to take part in the event. While Covid safety concerns halted such Halloween festivities on campus during the last couple of years, Marist Housing and Residential Life happily welcomed the event to resume with some minor changes.

Upper West Resident Assistant (RA) Kiana Pathirana '25 says, "This year, we are keeping all the focus around Upper West... Almost every house in Upper West is participating, and the residents will be the ones handing out candy when the kids go to their houses."

Although the location of this year's residents' Hall-oween was limited to one section of campus, instead of incorporating the Gartland Commons and Foy Townhouses, like in previous years, the staff at Upper West is enthusiastic about keeping the tradition going no matter what.

"From the RA's perspective, we want to spread some happiness around the community and are willing to put in the extra work to make it happen," Pathirana adds. "Our staff was bummed when we first heard it wasn't going to happen, which made Kim see if she could do something."

The RHA organization had previously been in charge of running this event; however, as they work to rebuild the organization, it wasn't plausible for them to step up for the event this year. So instead, Upper West Resident Director Kimberly Marsden '17 swiftly stepped up to lead operations of the Hall-oween festivities this year. She has had close ties with this event since the Fall of 2013 when she was on the RHA board herself as a student.

“This event means a lot to me personally as well as the Poughkeepsie and Marist Community,” Marsden says. “As we all work to find our new sense of normal, it made sense to want to bring it back.”