With the first month of classes behind us and spooky season in full swing, campus life is buzzing! We’re hitting our stride, and there’s plenty going on this week that you won’t want to miss.
🎃 Don’t forget to check out the Important Dates to Know for October 2025.
Week-long Events:
Exploratory Pre-Advising Prep Session
Required Pre- Advising Prep Sessions for Exploratory students coming up!
Students in the Exploratory Program are required to meet with a Peer Leader BEFORE you attend an advising meeting with your faculty advisor.
Each advising session is not long enough for your faculty advisor to start from scratch with showing you how to use Navigator and look for class options. Your advisor will expect that you come to the session with a list of classes you want to take for the spring semester. Attending this session with your Peer Leader helps you with this process so you enter your session prepared! Please find the Zoom information for virtual events here.
Tuesday, October 7
Fitness Challenge - Cardio – 11 am-7 pm
Stop by the front desk at the Gassett Fitness Center to compete against your peers on the row and ski ergs. Fastest person to 500m on the row erg and 250m on the ski erg wins a fitness challenge t-shirt! No registration needed, active membership required.
Major/ Minor Fair – 11:30 am-1 pm
The Majors/ Minors Fair serves as an opportunity for students to interact with all academic departments on campus to learn about selecting a major or minor. This is a great opportunity for students to ask their questions about major requirements, learn about opportunities, and meet faculty from a variety of fields.
Wednesday, October 8
Introduction to West African Dance with Greg Coles – 3:05-4:20 pm
Greg Coles is a world-class dance instructor who has taught thousands of all ages and backgrounds to dance. He is formally trained in ballet, jazz, modern, West African and Latin dance styles. He is a former Alvin Ailey scholarship student who continued dance training through college. He has offered African and Latin dance instruction at universities (including Tufts University, Salem State, Endicott College and North Shore Community College), high schools, elementary schools, dance studios, religious spaces, outdoors and at exercise facilities.
All are welcome to attend this workshop.
Big Prize Bingo – 6:30-8:30 pm
Ready to win BIG?
Program Council's annual Big Prize Bingo is happening in Veterans' Hall!
Salem State students have the chance to win incredible prizes like a MacBook Air, Nintendo Switch, Apple Watch SE, Roku 43" TV, and so much more! You won't want to miss this night of fun, surprises, and BIG wins!
This event is only open to Salem State students. Please have your ClipperCard or GET app ready at the door. We also have limited seating available, so please arrive on time to secure your seat.
Yoga Under the Stars – 7:15-8:15 pm
Join our yoga instructor Maggie on Marsh quad for a one-night event that will be a one-hour outdoor Yoga class "under the stars"! Bring your own mat, towel, or blanket and unwind under the night sky.
Register ahead of time to save your spot. Limited spots available.
Thursday, October 9
Volunteer Venture – 4:30-7:30 pm
On Thursday, October 9, 2025 we will be going to Mack Park Food Farm to work on the farm! Activities could include harvesting produce, herbs, fall planting, and preparing the fields for the winter season. We will meet in Dunks on North Campus at 4:30 pm prior to departure and arrive back to campus at 7:30pm.
Difficult Conversations Language Matters – 7-8:30 pm.
This expert panel will discuss strategies for effective communication and managing one’s own emotions during challenging discussions across healthcare settings.
Mbira Music of Zimbabwe: 'Samaita' Vitalis Botsa with Erica Azim – 7:30-8 pm
Incredible Zimbabwean master musician ‘Samaita’ Vitalis Botsa creates gorgeous
waves of sound with his mbira to connect the living with the ancestors. He says,
“I’m just the car, it’s the spirits doing the driving, making the music.” Botsa is
visiting from his village in Zimbabwe to tour playing duets with Erica Azim,
presenting a very traditional form of the sacred music played in Zimbabwe for
over 1,000 years.
Mbira is a musical instrument with metal keys plucked by two thumbs and one
forefinger, creating relaxing yet invigorating polyphony and polyrhythm.
Musicians play interlocking parts., and the tradition includes vast improvisation.
Century after century, the mbira instrument and its repertoire of classic songs
have been used in Zimbabwe to heal the sick and call family ancestors and
powerful tribal guardian spirits to earth to help the living, in night-long to weeklong ceremonies. Every time the mbira is played, it is considered a prayer to the ancestors, which will result in their protection of the living.
Friday, October 10
Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands – 12-1 pm
Join us on Zoom for a timely discussion with Author and Human Rights Activist Sarah Towle on her book Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands.
Towle’s research uncovers the root causes of forced displacement and migration from Latin America, tracing how the U.S. immigration system evolved—and then devolved—into a tool that undermines democracy.
Praised by Kirkus Reviews as “a powerful exposé of the human costs of America’s immigration policies,” Crossing the Line reveals the deterrence-to-detention-to-deportation pipeline through stories of both suffering and resistance. While pundits call the system “broken,” Towle demonstrates how it functions exactly as intended for demagogues and profiteers.
Though written as a chronicle of recent history, the book became what Towle calls a “manual for the movement for JUST migration” overnight on November 5, 2024. Today, it stands as an urgent call to awareness and action, particularly during Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month, as it lifts up the experiences of those impacted in our communities and beyond.
We hope you’ll join us in this conversation that connects scholarship, activism, and lived experience!
News:
As we enter cold and flu season, we would like to remind you that guidance for managing COVID-19, flu, or other respiratory illnesses, along with other relevant campus health information, can be found on our Campus Health for Students and Employees website.
We have one more on-campus vaccine clinic on Thursday, October 23, Alumni Plaza, 2-5 pm, for students and staff. Flu and COVID vaccines are encouraged to help us minimize campus disruptions caused from illness this winter! Schedule an appointment.
Are you looking to dine on campus and use a meal plan? Salem State has meal plans to meet your needs, from all-access to small block plans. You can also load cash on your ClipperCard and not pay taxes at the dining halls when dining with us. How to upgrade a meal plan.
Open Monday-Friday, 7 am-7 pm, Weekends, 9 am-4 pm
New: Assign your ClipperCard on the Starbucks app as a form of payment! You will be able to use your dining dollars and ClipperCash right on the mobile App! Now earning Stars towards free food and drinks has gotten even easier!
Dunkin’ is Back in Meier Hall, Monday-Thursday, 7 am-6 pm, Friday, 7 am-4 pm
Dunkin’ is open for the semester in Meier Hall. Order fast with our self-service kiosk or the Dunkin’ Mobile App. We accept all payments, including ClipperCash and Dining Dollars. Try our $6 Meal Deal: Medium hot or iced coffee, bacon, egg and cheese with hash browns.
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