Fling coordinators grapple with Passover

Carnival vendors may be selling matzoh brie and macaroons instead of cotton candy and french fries at next year's Spring Fling. Fling has been scheduled for April 22 and 23, 1995, which coincides with the last day of the eight-day Jewish holiday Passover. Fran Walker, director of the Office of Student Life, Activities and Facilities, said the time conflict was unavoidable. "What was the other alternative?" she said. "Because of where Easter falls and where finals fall, and because it usually snows the first weekend in April, there was nothing else we could do. This is not a great year for scheduling." Walker added that this year's Fling falls on a Saturday and Sunday, instead of the usual Friday and Saturday. This way, the party weekend will only overlap with the last day of Passover on Saturday. Religious Jews traditionally eat matzoh, or unleavened bread, in observance of Passover. To accommodate these students, vendors will sell Kosher-for-Passover food along with the usual hot dogs and french fries, Spring Fling Coordinator and Wharton junior Gil Beverly said. "We want to try to accommodate as many people as possible," he said. "Hopefully those who are deeply religious will miss a day and party with everyone else [Sunday]." Beverly added that he has received a few complaints from students who think this year's scheduling is "unfair." "People are expressing concerns, and rightfully so," he said. But Hillel Director Jeremy Brochin said he does not fault Walker or Beverly for the time conflict. "They were in a bind," he said. "They did the best that they could." Brochin said he appreciates that special measures were taken to insure that Fling would coincide with only one day of Passover, instead of two. "The weekend before would have been disastrous," he said. "At least [only] one day is a Jewish celebration." Passover celebrates the Jewish flight from Egypt recounted in Exodus, the second book of the Old Testament.

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