The Women’s Center has spent the past two decades promoting services that connect academic studies on campus to real world issues and advocacy. One major issue is the growing need for breast cancer awareness among students. Since 2004, one of the greatest – and tastiest – tools the Women’s Center has used to spread that knowledge is the annual Chocolate Festival.
The event, created by former director Frances Graham, began as just a fundraiser to help support the Women’s Center. However, members quickly decided that the event could also be used to help raise breast cancer awareness, and the Chocolate Festival has remained as educational as it is enjoyable ever since.
Now in its eighth year, the event, held in Talley Student Center on Sept. 30, once again managed to draw crowds with the promise of chocolate as well as information about breast cancer.
Ashley Simons-Rudolph, an alumna and the current director of the Women’s Center, feels that college students don’t understand how at risk for breast cancer they are.
“Students think about it as something that happens to mothers and grandmothers,” Simons-Rudolph said. “College students do get it. [Our goal] is making people aware and letting them know how to check for it within themselves.”
While the event provides a great amount of information about breast cancer, it also acts as a showcase of local bakers, restaurants, and businesses. Over 25 businesses donated chocolate to the event.
Those students who managed to get tickets were able to sample up to six different chocolates. In keeping with the breast cancer awareness, tables were categorized by white and pink tablecloths, and guests were able to take three samples from each color.
Though all of the samples were chocolate in some form or another, there was still a variety among the selections. Brownies, cakes, fudge, and cupcakes were just some of the different delicacies available for students to choose from.
Christine Knight, a senior in environmental engineering, found the event to be impressive in what it had to offer.
“I thought [the selection] was awesome,” Knight said. “The raspberry chocolate cake was delicious.”
The Chocolate Festival had an easy time drawing a crowd; the line just to get in the door snaked down the stairs and to the main doors of Talley.
“In 2005, about 300 people attended the event,” Simons-Rudolph said. “This year, we were almost sold out [before the event] with around 1000 tickets sold.”
The few tickets that remained on the day of the event sold out fast, as many disappointed attendees learned. Anyone was welcome to look around the show floor, but only those with a ticket were given a pink box and sampling rights.
Those who couldn’t try out the numerous chocolate creations, however, could still enjoy a good number of activities. Among the vendors, there was also a table manned by representatives of the Inter-Residence Council. There, any attendee was welcome to spin the Wheel of Chocolate. Prizes included IRC gift packs, Noodles & Company coupons, and assorted candy treats.
There was also a silent auction held just outside of the showroom. Guests could bid on numerous items, including State paraphernalia, gift bags, and portraits painted by local artists.
Elizabeth Hyde, a junior in animal science, felt the event did a good job of balancing the focus between chocolate and breast cancer awareness.
“While there were a lot of chocolate vendors,” Hyde said, “there were also a good number of breast cancer awareness groups, not to mention all the information handed out in the packets.”
Another major part of the Chocolate Festival was held on the main stage in the showroom. During the event, a projector showed information about breast cancer. Also, several speakers told their stories about breast cancer loss or survival.
Overall, the eighth annual Chocolate Festival remained a success. As the Women’s Center works to educate people on the risks of breast cancer, it will continue to provide the fun and informative event for N.C. State students for years to come.
