Students gathered on the Quad of UNC Asheville’s campus Thursday, Oct. 23, to celebrate the Turning of the Maples, bringing in colorful trees and community.
“When the maple trees that line the sidewalks of the Quad turn brilliant colors in mid-October, the university community gathers to celebrate autumn in the mountains with cider, cookies, conversation and fun,” according to the UNCA website.
One booth at the event was the Young Democratic Socialist of America (YDSA), providing yarn for students to crochet their own fall designs including leaves, according to Marcos Martinez, the president of the YDSA club at UNCA.
“We have provided an assortment of yarn and code keys to make autumn shapes out of the yarn,” said Martinez.
YDSA is a club that makes sure that students’ voices are heard and feel equal. The club is a safe space for students regardless of their identity, according to Martinez.
“Local community organizing really can go as far as to change everything in the world through a chain reaction,” said Martinez.
Students can find club meetings for YDSA every Thursday in the Highsmith Student Union from 4-5 p.m.
Madison Farley, a third-year student at UNCA, said she was excited for the event to take place as years prior caused limitations for Farley to attend.
“This is my first time coming to the Turning of the Maples,” said Farley. “The first year I had to work at this time, and second time was Helene, so I’ve been wanting to come to this for forever and I finally get to come.”
Another booth was the Ashley Wesley Foundation, a Methodist student ministry providing a craft for students and education on the ministries mission.
“We are offering a fun craft so that students can come by and enjoy the Turning of the Maples and also learn about our organization,” said Joanna Capps, the campus minister for the Ashley Wesley foundation.
The Ashley Wesley Foundation invites students who are wanting to find a close community to join their ministry aside from views and beliefs.
“We are LGBTQ+ led and we invite anyone who wants to be part of a close-knit community. We take care of each other. We have Christians, we have non-Christians, we have atheist, agnostic and all types,” said Capps.
The ministry meets every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. for dinner and main discussion at 7 p.m. with specific locations found on their Instagram page (@ashevillewesley).
Students were able to find, listen and jam to live to music as they walked throughout the booths and activities provided.
“I like the music. I like everything. I’m just enjoying this,” said Farley.
Students could make their own candy ‘salad’ bags at the Food Equity Initiative, choosing their own assortments.
“We’re doing candy salad bags, we have a bunch of different candy options,” said Jordan Wren, the associate director for student engagement for UNCA’s Food Equity Initiative.
UNCA’s Food Equity Initiative is a student-run organization dedicated to eliminating food insecurity within the UNCA community with a focus on health and sustainability, according to their website.
“We’re just trying to spread the word about good equity initiatives and our distributions on campus. We felt like this was a great way to give out some candy and meet people,” said Wren.
Students can find food distribution on campus every week on the Quad Tuesday from 12-2 p.m. and Thursday in the Highsmith Student Union from 5-7 p.m.
