Carnivals usually don’t conjure up thoughts of snow beach volleyball and and snow sculpting, but they do in Syracuse, at least this weekend.

Members of the Residence Hall Association and the Interfraternity Council have been working with Ellen King, the director of student events at Syracuse University, to bring back the tradition of the winter carnival. The carnival will run Friday through Sunday and include events in the quad, Schine Student Center and the Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion. Events beyond the sculpting and volleyball include a performance by Danceworks, and the wacky winter olympics.

The winter carnival was once an annual tradition at SU from the 1930s until the 1970s but after that was only held sporadically, King said. Several people within the SU community have been interested in bringing some of the old traditions back to campus, she said.

“We think this year is going to be tough bringing it back because not too many people know about it,” King said. “Hopefully they will come out to the quad.”

Chad Bender, a sophomore television, radio and film and entrepreneurship major, was the liaison between King and RHA working to get the word out in the residence halls.

Bender said that sometimes there is a lack of large-scale events for students to participate in on campus, and the winter carnival gives students the opportunity to become engaged in one such event.

He said he hopes students participate and realize that the first year of something like the carnival is always hard because people may not be aware that it is even going on. He added that he expects many students will participate in the snow beach volleyball and the campus cabaret which will be held Sunday in Goldstein Auditorium.

“If we get a decent turnout this could be the start of something wonderful,” Bender said.

Geoffrey Levine, a junior information technologies major and the programming chair for IFC, said it is important for the university to provide positive outlets for people to meet one another and have a good time together.

“Greeks are going to be participating heavily,” Levine said. “We are going to come out and play this weekend.

Not only are there hopes that students turn out for the winter carnival but for community residents to come as well. In the past the members of the community would drive around looking at the snow sculptures outside of the residents halls, King said.

“We would love for this to take place each year and for the students to look forward to it and take part in it,” she said.

Published on February 19, 2003 at 12:00 pm