Cardinal Palooza 2019 -

Courtesy of the Catholic University’s Instagram page @catholicuniversity

By Noelia Veras

This years Cardinal Palooza took place on Friday at 5:00 p.m. Students were ecstatic to officially be out of class and get their first taste of summer.

The weather on Friday was shockingly very nice and it was the perfect day to sit outside with friends and celebrate the end of the year. As usual, free shirts were given out as well as free food. There were several tables filled with food, set up like a buffet.

Students were all over campus, from the Basilica lawn all the way to the law school lawn. There were people playing frisbee, cornhole, catch, and even manhunt.

Of course the raffles were a hit, as they were offering the chance to win rock climbing passes, air pods, a digital camera and much more. Red Line and Take Note performed before the raffles and garnered a pretty large crowd.

After the raffles and student performances on the Pryzbyla lawn, students gathered in the McMahon parking lot to watch the band Juice play. The crowd was substantial and students huddled tightly while they danced to the music.

As soon as Juice was done performing everyone hurriedly made it to the other side of Caldwell to get a good view of the fireworks. Students gathered and watched as the last day of school for the 2018-19 school year was officially wrapping up.

As people headed back to their dorms many decided to stay and help campus ministry clean up the event. Campus ministry and the freshman retreat team helped set up and clean up the entire event. The ministers that were setting up began preparing campus as early as the day before, some volunteers even staying up all night to help.

“I think I just really loved how everyone that set up was so positive” said freshman Madeline Seeley-Hacker. “We really just wanted to show Christ to students in a fun way that just sort of wrapped up the school year in a charitable and awesome way.”

Students were noticeably participating and the turnout for the event was really incredible. Some areas on campus were really bustling, and there were enthusiastic cheers at every corner of the University.

“I really enjoyed Cardinalpalooza, I was not even expecting to have as much fun as I did, and I’m glad my first year of college ended so amazingly” said freshman Lizetthe Moreno.

Overall, Cardinal Palooza was a great success this year. From the food, to the activities, to the raffles students had a lot of fun and although finals week has yet to start, it truly was a great end to a great year.