Jason Morrison, assistant professor of finance, demonstrates the proper method of eating crawfish as Yuliia Koreiba, a sophomore from Ukraine, looks on. Morrison—who prepared an authentic southern-style crawfish boil—was one of several Alfred University College of Business faculty who provided dishes for the annual “Finals Feast.”
From Alfred University,
In what has become a popular annual tradition, faculty in the College of Business at Alfred University served students a pre-finals week dinner Thursday evening, Dec. 7, in the Olin Building.
“Finals Feast” is held in advance of final exams week, which began on Monday, Dec. 11. Mark Lewis, dean of the College of Business, said the event, which was started about 10 years ago by Amy Rummell, retired professor of marketing, has continued to grow in popularity each year.
“Our students tell us they miss home cooking and look forward to being home for the holidays and enjoying family favorites,” Lewis said. “Finals Feast is our way of bringing them some of our favorite foods and letting them see their professors in a different light. We thoroughly enjoy cooking some of our favorite dishes and serving our students.”
The free meal, with dishes prepared and served by professors, is offered to all business and athletic training majors and business minors. Almost 140 students enjoyed a meal consisting of American and international ethnic dishes, reflecting the diversity of the College of Business faculty.
Lewis, an avid hunter, made venison stew using meat from a deer he harvested, while Jason Morrison, assistant professor of finance, prepared an authentic Southern-style crawfish boil. Shelly Freyn, associate professor of marketing, brought a bounty of baked goods; Theresa Gunn, associate professor of accountancy and associate dean, made salt potatoes; and Diana Maguire, associate professor of management and leadership, contributed macaroni and cheese.
Freyn said this year’s Finals Feast had more ethnic food offerings than in past events, with dishes from Brazil, Korea, India, China, and Turkey on the menu. William Shibuya, assistant professor of marketing, prepared Brazilian cheese bread and the traditional Brazilian dessert, brigadeiro. Halil Zaim, associate professor of management, made cacik, a Turkish yogurt and cucumber dish infused with olive and mint. Ayush Sengupta, assistant professor of analytics, and his wife, Sayani, contributed vegetarian biryani, a rice and vegetable dish originating from India. Sangjoon Lee, professor of economics, brought a Korean-style fruit salad, and Xiaofeng Wang, assistant professor of finance, served a pair of Chinese dishes.
Sophomore Artem Kolisnychenko, dressed as “Olaf” from the Disney film “Frozen,” was on hand to encourage those in attendance to donate to the Marketing Club’s annual toy drive. Two College of Business faculty members from Turkey—Yavuz Keceli, associate professor of information systems, and Zaim—performed traditional Turkish music, with Keceli on percussion and Zaim on keyboard.
The Finals Feast is sponsored by members of the Marketing Club, who promote the event, set up and decorate, and clean up.
“I have had the honor of working with the Marketing Club to grow this event. The addition of music, ethnic food, cookie decorating and, of course, Olaf, contribute to the festivities,” Freyn commented. “We served 138 students this year and the club is so thankful for the generous contributions of the students to the toy drive to help families in the Hornell community. I can’t wait to see what next year will bring!”
