SU Students Attend ‘College Day’ in Philadelphia

At 7a.m. on Saturday , Sept. 29, a host of Shippensburg University students lined up to board a bus to Philadelphia to attend the 26th annual College Day Festival.

College day is a day-long event during which all university students in Pennsylvania carrying valid student IDs become the recipients of giveaway prizes, free entry to many of the museums and historic tours throughout City-Center, Historic Philadelphia and the Ben Franklin Parkway.

Campus Philly, the organization hosting the event, was giving discount passes to attending students with valid IDs. These cards allowed the attendees to receive price reductions at participating stores and restaurants throughout the city.

This annual event was, and still is, motivated by Campus Philly’s desire to introduce the world of the arts to university students throughout the state and beyond. The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rodin Museum were among the main attractions, also partaking in Campus Philly’s College Day event. The Philadelphia Museum of Art pioneered itself to an innovative new spot by hosting a live DJ, nightclub-themed party within its halls on Friday night to Herald the opening of a new exhibition for a younger audience.

The exhibition is titled, “Full Spectrum: Prints from the Brandywine Workshop.” It features many prints made in the Brandywine Workshop that illustrate a range of perspectives on the current social, political, economic and moral issues facing our society.

During the evening, a screening of the just debuted motion picture, 50/50 featuring Seth Rogen was presented free of charge to the students attending the event at the Pearl Theater. This showing was the compliment of Summit Entertainment, and the film-producing agency was also accountable for the production of the Twilight film series, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Sinister.

Amidst the frenzy of free admission, parties and film screenings, RedBull and Philadelphia FM Radio Station, 104.5 teamed up to invite a handful of up-and-coming bands and musicians for musical entertainment. For the less musically inspired, there were free golfing lessons proctored by a PGA-certified instructor among a pro BMX demo and other affairs. Campus Philly also placed an art station run by InLiquid Art & Design where rising artists were able to sell their works to those interested in purchasing unique articles of jewelry, sculpture and wall pieces as well.

Saturday was an exciting day for students, museum directors, DJ’s and participating organizations alike. Over 300,000 students from the state and the region attended, making this a must on the to-do lists of many for next year. Philadelphia is a great city to visit anytime with its rich culture, cosmopolitan stance and distinct place in our nation’s history as well.

It is a city in which one is likely never to become bored even without a major event such as College Day taking place. And with it, students here at Ship are quite likely to find that they are pleased with a fresh, urban change of scenery.