{shortcode-602c12c3f1c028d9d88b9c3d9245365a78058aca}

For perhaps the first time since many of us sat through Convocation, University President Drew G. Faust was seen mingling with us plebs Tuesday night. Posted outside of Mass. Hall, Faust passed out candy to a small line of undergraduates as part of the College Events Board’s Trick or Treat event.

Undergraduates were understandably eager to meet her. For many, this was the first time they had ever seen her up close. Sheridan Marsh ’20 said she only went trick-or-treating because she knew Faust would be there. Nicole Jarmula ’21 said she’d “been waiting all week for this.”

Perhaps to the chagrin of the folks who’ve placed all the passive-aggressive “eat healthy” posters in the dining halls (looking at you HUDS), Faust was generous in the amount of candy she dumped into each student’s hands. Whether they were using it to quench their craving for chocolate, or as a quick, sugary study break, students walked away from Mass. Hall satisfied.

“I’m planning to frame mine and put it up on my refrigerator,” Ryan T. Feng ’21 said, clutching a piece of candy.

If you think that’s absurd, then you’re not the only one. But who can blame the guy? We sometimes wonder if Faust is nothing more than a fever dream, an illusion we grasp for when we want someone to shake our first angrily at when something goes wrong on campus.

Tuesday was a truly historic day. It was definitely the first time any of us at Flyby have seen Faust mingling with average students, and with her final days as University President looming in June, it might just be the last.