Tundra Fest sparks brand new tradition on St. John’s campus

The ‘2nd Annual Tundra Fest was held Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It was established by a St. John’s Resident Assistant (RA), senior Antonio Thompson.

“The original idea of Tundra Fest came about after some students and staff felt that Johnnie RAs weren’t offering enough programming, especially for sophomores and juniors who often feel left out,” Thompson said.

Tundra Fest was first held in the fall of 2023 with about 100 students in attendance. Thompson set out to make this year’s Tundra Fest bigger and more inclusive, bringing together students from both campuses for an afternoon. Thompson began planning in March, spending months securing vendors, calculating costs and making formal funding requests to both senates. After the success of Flynnfest in April, coordinated by another St. John’s RA, junior Kobe Forbes, Thompson noted that support for Tundra Fest grew even stronger. He received endorsements from St. John’s Dean of Students Amanda Erdman, Assistant Dean for Student Leadership and Engagement Aaron Voth, and St. John’s Assistant Dean of Students Daryl Bass.

“Tundra Fest was a very wonderful experience. Last year, it was small and quaint, good for hanging out, but this year was a step out of the ballpark,” said Albrion Rolle, SJU senior. Rolle expressed his appreciation for events like this actually happening at SJU, hoping that even ten years down the line he can return and still have fun.

The event included a rock-climbing wall, a mechanical bull, soccer darts, toxic meltdown and a razor bike racecourse. Dorm halls battled it out in team challenges for bragging rights, a traveling trophy and a pizza party sponsored by St. John’s Residential Life. There were burgers, hotdogs, make-your-own caramel apples, cotton candy sticks, snow cones and over $3000 worth of prizes ranging from a $250 Delta Airlines voucher to Air Pod Pro Maxs, an iPad, a PlayStation 5, Beats by Dr. Dre headphones and dining bucks vouchers. Thompson estimated over 500 students attended.

An event like Tundra Fest takes a lot of work to set up.

“Regardless of the turnout, there was a lot of preparation for the Tundra Fest. I don’t want it to go unnoticed. The amount of people that were involved, the outside vendors, a lot of Residential Life staff, a lot of CSLE staff, a lot of effort put into a fun event for Bennies and Johnnies,” said SJU junior and RA Kyle Johnson, who was a part of the crew that set up for Tundra Fest Saturday morning.

As an RA on Mary Hall’s third Floor, Johnson is charged with first-year students. He found it to be unfortunate that there was a freshman retreat going on at the same time last weekend, but he and Thompson believe those first-years who were absent would have loved it and stayed.

“It was unforeseen and an oversight on my end. The date was established from March to April. We were looking for weekends when there would be no football games to conflict, giving students something else to enjoy. It hit me hard because I really wanted the freshman to be there, but I know FYRE is an important event and encouraged students to attend it. There’s always next year,” Thompson said.

Thompson, graduating in May 2025, is already laying the groundwork for the future of Tundra Fest. He’s working with a new team of five RAs from different class cohorts to ensure the event continues.

“It’s about legacy,” Thompson said. “I want the next generation of RAs to take it even further.”

There will be training for these students to reimagine the planning of Tundra Fest efficiently without straying away from its purpose. This is to ensure that the mantle is passed on to new RAs, allowing Tundra Fest to become a yearly tradition on campus.