By Julia Wagner 

We’re still reeling from this weekend–the best weekend of the year–Fall Fest! This weekend over 1,000 athletes traveled from all over Pennsylvania to compete in the largest student-run Special Olympics (SpO) event in the world, right here at Villanova University. Powerlifting in the Villanova Room, dancing in O-Town in the quad, and flag football on Sheehan Beach were just a couple of the various spots where dreams came true for countless individuals. The theme of the weekend encouraged athletes, parents, and volunteers to “dream on” because “together as a team our dreams are closer than they seem.”

I had the pleasure of being a Volunteer Coordinator for Healthy Athletes where I helped run tables with activities to promote healthy habits like gratitude, sleep, self-love, and snacks. The connections and memories that I made with athletes at Powerlifting and around the Oreo are ones I will cherish forever. I’m sad that the weekend is over, but I am so lucky to have experienced something so special. I look forward to doing it all again next year! I encourage anyone who is thinking about getting involved in Special Olympics to do so (more info here)! Getting involved is truly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the love and laughter I experienced this weekend. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and helped make dreams come true. SpO much love!

All photos courtesy of Julia Wagner.

Julia Wagner ’26 CLAS is an Economics major from New Hampshire (Go Patriots!). She works as a Communication & Marketing Student Assistant at Falvey Library.

Halloween may be over, but we’re still celebrating spooky season! This week, we asked students, “What’s your favorite film to watch around Halloween”

Cole Jackson ’24

Brooklyn Phang ’25

Carissa Van Veen ’25

Be on the look out for our team when you’re studying in Falvey, because we’re always giving treats to anyone who answers our weekly questions!

Rebecca Amrick is a first-year graduate student in the English Department and a Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library.

Jadyn Piotrowski ’26 VSB is a Communication & Marketing Student Assistant at Falvey Library.

Please join us on Thursday, Nov. 2, from 5-6:30 p.m. in Villanova University’s Falvey Library for the annual Senghor-Damas-Césaire Lecture for Africana Studies, which focuses on African issues and issues connected to the global Black diaspora. ⁠
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Wale Adebanwi, PhD, Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies, Director, Center for Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania, will be speaking about the politics of renaming apartheid-era streets and removing apartheid and colonial-era monuments from public spaces in contemporary South Africa. The talk will take place in the Library’s Speakers’ Corner on the first floor. ⁠
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This Africana Studies event is ACS-approved and is co-sponsored by Falvey Library and the Departments of Political Science and Global Interdisciplinary Studies. Light refreshments will be served.

Fall Break Service Hours

(Saturday, October 7–Sunday, October 15)

Saturday, October 7

Service Desk: 12 p.m.–5 p.m. (book stacks 12 p.m.–4:30 p.m.)

Sunday, October 8

CLOSED

Monday, October 9–Friday, October 13

Service Desk: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. (book stacks 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.)

Saturday, October 14

CLOSED

Sunday, October 15

Service Desk: 12 p.m.–8 p.m. (book stacks 12 p.m.–7:30 p.m.)

Regular service hours resume on Monday, October 16.

Villanova students, faculty, and staff may enter the Library building 24/7 with a valid Wildcard. Library services are available to the University community during posted service hours. Electronic collections (articles, e-books, and more!) are accessible through the Library’s website 24/7.

Have a relaxing and safe break, Wildcats!

Join Falvey Library’s Distinctive Collections and Digital Engagement staff for “Tricks and Treats from the Vault” on Tuesday, Oct. 31, from 12-2 p.m. Visitors can view spooky highlights from the collections in Speakers’ Corner and enjoy ghostly activities and treats. We’ll have tarot readings, ink blocking, and a haunted Villanova map. This event, sponsored by Falvey Library, is free and open to the public.

Enhance your palate and your mind during the annual Cultural Studies Food Matters Week featuring tastings and talks on food justice around the world. Faculty, staff, students, and friends are invited to join us to learn more about food and social justice and sample delicious cuisine! These ACS-approved events, co-sponsored by the Cultural Studies Program and Falvey Library, are free and open to the public.

Events begin at 6 p.m. in Falvey Library’s room 205.

Tuesday, Oct. 17 

Philadelphia-based chef and activist Kurt Evans will be joining us to talk about how he uses food as a vehicle to talk about issues concerning mass incarceration and systematic racism. You can learn more about Chef Kurt’s work here.

Wednesday, Oct. 18 

Eemon Ghasemiyeh, activist and educator at New Roots Institute (formerly Factory Farming Awareness Coalition), will be joining us to talk about the conditions animals are raised in, the environmental impacts, and actions to create a more just food system. You can learn more about Eemon Ghasemiyeh’s work here.

Thursday, Oct. 19 

Join us for a talk by Arielle Ashford, chef and co-founder of Unity Taqueria, which is dedicated to serving up the best Tex-Mex tacos, burritos, nachos, and queso you’ve ever had, while investing in the community and people living in recovery and those returning from the justice system. Unity Taqueria is part of a family of community-driven businesses and organizations, including Unity Yoga and Unity Recovery in Manayunk. You can learn more about Unity Taqueria here.

Photo courtesy of Jutta Seibert, Director of Research Services & Scholarly Engagement.

Oh deer! Lunch encounter on the VU campus trail near the Charles Widger School of Law.

In honor of Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month, Hispanic/Latine Ministry in the Office for Mission and Ministry will be hosting a special event on Tuesday, October 3, on the “History of Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia.”

In his book, Before the Wave: Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia, 1910-1945, Dr. Vázquez-Hernández recounts the genesis of the Puerto Rican community in Philadelphia during the interwar years (1917–1945). It connects the origins of this community to the mass migration of the post-WW II years when Puerto Ricans consolidated their presence in Philadelphia (1945–1985). This study compares the experiences of Puerto Ricans with that of the Italians, the Polish, and African Americans in Philadelphia during the early twentieth century. The scholarship on Puerto Ricans outside of New York has been, by and large, limited to the postwar period and a closer examination of the interwar years provides us a more complete picture of how the postwar migrants were established and developed over a much longer period than previously believed. Until now, there has been no comprehensive examination of this early diaspora in Philadelphia and this book rectifies this scholarly deficiency.

Program Schedule:

5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.: Los Bomberos De La Calle, Plena Comparsa Group will lead a percussion and dance procession from the Riley Ellipse to the John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.: Lecture by Dr. Vázquez-Hernández, author of Before the Wave: Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia, 1910-1945, followed by a panel discussion with Johnny Irizarry and Carmen Febo-San Miguel, former Executive Directors of Taller Puertorriqueño and moderated by the current Executive Director, Nasheli Ortiz González in the Topper Theatre

7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.: Reception and Art Exhibit by Johnny Irizarry in the Lobby of the Mullen Center

Link for ticket information: https://forms.office.com/r/kjHg9pByVt

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. Thomas of Villanova Center for the Common Good, Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest, Department of Spanish, Latin American Studies Program, Falvey Library, Department of English, Center for Peace and Justice Education, and Alumni Relations.

Photo courtesy of Jadyn Piotrowski.

As summer winds down, we’ve been seeing some of the prettiest sunsets.

Jadyn Piotrowski ’26 VSB, Communication & Marketing Student Assistant at Falvey Library.