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2025 was a year of culture for campus and the wider Syracuse community. This year, The Daily Orange Culture staff covered everything from local business spotlights to campus history and traditions to new exciting events. Our stories had their finger on the pulse, with human interest stories, event coverages and longer narratives that showcase the beauty and diversity Syracuse has to offer.

Here are 10 of the culture section’s top stories from this year:

Courtesy of Patrick Berry

Project Mend magazine showcases works of formerly incarcerated writers

Project Mend released its 2025 issue on Feb. 15. The magazine, which began in 2022, showcases the art, poetry and essays of incarcerated people. Project Mend is a “process of humanity” that helps people get back in touch with parts of themselves they may have lost as a result of incarceration.

The magazine provides a personal outlet for those impacted by incarceration as well as a way to raise awareness. It amplifies voices of formerly incarcerated people, instead of pushing them to tell a predetermined story or cater to a narrative.

“You see people navigating life after prison, you realize the struggles they face, the barriers,” said Patrick Berrk, an SU professor who leads the project and organizes its editorial board. “But you also get a chance to celebrate their humanity. You get to see people assume identities that go beyond the crime.”

Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer

Central New York Flyers sled hockey brings inclusion, community to the ice

The Central New York Flyers sled hockey team is an adaptive recreational hockey team, mostly for players with disabilities as an accessible alternative to ice hockey. The team is a part of CNY Adaptive Sports, a local nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities participate in athletic activities.

In sled hockey, players sit in specially designed sleds with two hockey skate blades on the bottom, and they propel themselves with two sticks instead of one. Other than these differences, sled hockey games follow the same fundamental rules and scoring guidelines as ice hockey.

“Having a physical disability doesn’t mean you can’t do stuff,” Werner said. “We have players of different levels of disabilities, but within that group, they are all on a sled on the ice. And they can all do things that none of their coaches can do.”

Courtesy of Gary Frenay

‘This was ours’: SU alums reminisce on Jabberwocky after Kimmel demolition

As Syracuse University demolished Marion and Kimmel Halls this year, some SU alum saw more than a dorm knocked down. In the 1970s and 80s, Kimmel Hall was home to Jabberwocky, a student-run nightclub.

Various musical and comedic acts performed at the Jabberwocky over its tenure, from national traveling acts like James Brown to Syracuse local bands like The Flashcubes. The club also legally served cheap alcohol to students before the drinking age was raised to 21 in 1984.

Entirely run and managed by students, the makeshift dive bar also included colorful light fixtures made from coffee cans, graffiti messages on the walls and a coating of beer on the floor.

“You really felt like you were part of a movement,” said Gary Frenay, a Flashcubes member who played at Jabberwocky in the 1970s.

Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer

Inside a night at Cuse Gourmet Deli & Café, Marshall Street’s 24/7 spot

Opened last fall semester, Cuse Gourmet Deli and Café is the only business on Marshall Street open 24 hours. At the end of April, The Daily Orange spent 12 hours in the deli, over a Friday and Saturday night, to see a typical night shift.

From police officers and delivery workers to students returning from late-night parties or bar-hopping, the restaurant provides a meeting place and an oasis of fresh, late night eats, no matter the time.

After recent business closures and SU purchases of local properties, some students said the area is losing its character. Cuse Gourmet provides a taste of nostalgic Marshall Street culture.

“It’s bringing back the vibe of what Marshall Street used to be,” then-SU senior Cameron Mollaan said.

Avery Magee | Photo Editor

‘That was peak’: Matcha, Clairo lovers relish in performative male contest

SU’s “performative male” competition gathered nearly 100 attendees and 30 participants on the steps of Carnegie Library on Sept. 14. Freshman Naa Oyoo Quist, the only woman who competed, was crowned the winner.

The trend, which has been gaining attention on social media months, has turned into an aesthetic. Men dress to appeal to women, like wearing cardigans or listening to indie pop (while reading Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” obviously).

The event was a sea of paperback books, matcha lattes, guitars, tote bags, wired headphones and promises to end period cramps.

“Everyone and anyone can join. Even if you don’t know about the performative thing, it’s free,” competitor Ziek Diallo said. “A lot of people are screaming. It genuinely brings the community together.”

Ike Wood | Video Editor

Redgate-turned-Dazed house radiated ‘essence’ of Syracuse music scene

This summer, Dazed announced it’s no longer hosting live music shows at its house, bringing three years of tradition to an end. The house has been a gathering place from its beginning as Redgate in 2022 to its resurgence as Dazed last fall.

Dazed has been one of the few venues near campus with an indoor space, porch outside and basement for musical performances, dancing and intimate conversations during their events. The space has become a second home for anyone from local performers to SU students.

The organizers said they will host future collaborations to continue sharing living music with its audience. People looked forward to the show each weekend, they said. It created an alternative weekend activity for those who weren’t attracted to fraternity parties on campus.

“The legacy that I hope carries on is the essence of the music in Syracuse,” Jared Rowland, a former organizer of Redgate and bass player said. “The greatest legacy, for me, would be that music continues in Syracuse University’s student body.”

Leonardo Eriman | Senior Staff Photographer

Point of Contact’s 50-year history symbol of union between diverse creatives, art

This year, Punto de Contacto celebrated its 50th anniversary. For the last half century, the organization has become a prevalent part of SU’s art scene, with literary journals, youth and adult programming, art galleries and poetry readings.

Punto de Contacto/Point of Contact aims to be a bridge of different cultures and different art mediums. The bilingual organization was inspired by late professor Pedro Cuperman’s Argentine roots. However, it was never conceived as a strictly Latin American project; it is dedicated to all voices.

“There isn’t another organization on campus that really deals with literature, poetry, art as a storytelling device,” Samantha Hefti, the archivist and collections manager, said. “A dedicated place to making sure that art has its foothold in the Syracuse community.”

Joe Zhao | Senior Staff Photographer

Banner flips, personal stages: 40 years of SU Marching Band’s Varsity tradition

For over 40 years, members of the SU marching band have taken over Varsity Pizza for the “banner flip” and a musical celebration after Syracuse football wins at home. They turn tables into their own personal stage, playing their instruments between plates of chicken wings and slices of pizza.

The tradition, and the restaurant, has remained a mainstay of marching band culture even as the members change. Rookie members of the band often don’t know about the tradition until it begins, but years later band alumni make their way back to the restaurant whenever they visit campus.

“If you’re a band member, especially an older band member, it’s kind of like going home,” said Class of 1986 alum and baritone horn player George Gross.

Leonardo Eriman | Senior Staff Photographer

Sign Guy wants you to see his positive messages, not know his name

Sign Guy sits in a folding lawn chair in the same spot on the Shaw Quadrangle every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — rain, shine or snow. For an hour or two, he holds up a whiteboard with a brief positive message: “You matter;” “Keep going;” “You’re stronger than you know.” He rarely misses a day.

Sign Guy asked to be anonymous in this story. He believes the message is bigger than himself.

The idea to sit outside with a sign was inspired by Sign Guy’s grandfather, who sat in their small town in Vermont in the 2000s with his own sign. From his very first day of classes freshman year, Sign Guy has been continuing the family tradition.

“Obviously the end goal is to save the world, right?” Sign Guy said. “But this is not going to save the world. But this is all I know how to do now. So that’s what I’m doing.”

Tara Deluca | Staff Photographer

Students fashion lids, IKEA bags into sleds for SU’s snowy ‘rite of passage’

From IKEA bags and container lids to cardboard boxes and discontinued plastic dining trays, central New York winter means an opportunity for students to unleash their creativity. Every year, students have used whatever was at their disposal to sled down the snow-covered Crouse hill.

Some students said the fun of sledding makes up for the otherwise dreary and hard parts of the snowstorms, icy roads and feet of snow that come with Syracuse winters. They called it a “rite of passage” and “whimsy college behavior” to sled down Crouse hill after the sun sets on the first snowfall.

It’s become a part of SU folklore, with stories told during prospective student tours and alumni reminiscing on their time participating in the tradition.

“A lot of traditions have fallen away. So to see that one tradition is still happening, I think ‘Oh, thank goodness something’s hanging in there,’” SU alum Nancy Ring said. “It brings me great joy, it reminds me of what I love about the place and of some of the best times I’ve ever had.”

Published on December 31, 2025 at 1:07 pm