Fall is officially here. Now, in south Texas this doesn’t really mean very much. Our leaves don’t change. The air isn’t a crisp 65 degrees. We don’t have a lot of apple orchards. Any decorative pumpkins we leave on our porches and balconies turn to moldy mush in the midday heat. However, for any student here at Trinity, there is one event that lets you know that it is, without a doubt, fall. You all know what’s coming: we are talking about TigerFest.

Please stifle your groan of exasperation and listen up for a moment. Complain though you might (loudly and obnoxiously at Mabee to all your friends as you also whine about how the food’s terrible and the Coke dispenser was just shooting out water), you are going to end up at TigerFest. You are going to teeter-totter your way across the Mabee/Bell Center parking lot, wait in an impossibly long line, get birthed onto a coach bus and find yourself deposited at a reasonably priced event space with a couple hundred of your classmates. And this time, it’s going to be awesome.

Here’s the deal, friends: TigerFest got a facelift, and two of its new features are just plain beautiful. New feature No. 1: TigerFest is free this year. Like, you don’t have to pay money to get into it. Like, if you have no money, you can still attend it.  Like, we don’t know how many more ways we can explain the concept of “free.” There’s no discount for being over 21 because any and all Trinity students get in FOR FREE. You still have to pay for alcohol, but you now have all of the $10 you would have previously spent on a ticket for some alcohol (assuming, of course, that you are of legal drinking age). New feature #2: TigerFest is being held at The Westin River Walk. Coincidentally, you know what’s really awesome? Events that are hosted in hotels on the River Walk. The River Walk is one of, if not the most, iconic landmarks of San Antonio. We think it’s freaking sweet that Student Programming Board moved Trinity’s annual dance to the heart of the city.

More importantly, we think it’s freaking sweet that SPB is trying so hard to make the event iconic in its own right. It’s no small secret that TigerFest has always occupied a precarious sort of space in the heart of every Trinity student. Because Trinity is a small university, TigerFest always feels like a repeat of every high school dance you’ve ever been to. It’s crowded, sweaty, awkward, and now no one’s mom is going to pay for pizza when you get home from it. This year, though, we have a challenge for you: make TigerFest terrific.

By now, all of you know how much the Trinitonian loves involvement. Arguably, we love nothing””save free dances on the River Walk””more than we love involvement. We think people are happy when they’re doing stuff. Maybe you’re bee-keeping with Dr. Reed. Maybe you’re hanging out with your friends in the classy Adirondack chairs on upper campus. Maybe you’re getting ready to take the coolest class of your life in GNED 3391 this coming spring. Add one more thing to your plate. Go to TigerFest. Dance the night away. Be awkward. Be awesome. Behave.