This semester’s “I Heart Fresno State Week” kicked off with House Cafe, a unique experience featuring house music, local coffee carts and interactive activities.
The event ran from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday in the Resnick Student Union event plaza, with students lined up as far as the bookstore, eager to obtain free items and show off their Bulldog Pride.
“Kickoffs are always exciting, because it kind of sets the tone for the week, seeing how it’s going to go and what students are going to come out,” said Bianca Palma, Spotlight Events advisor.
DJ Cuevas brought the music and vibes while Divine Coffee Co and Hapa California Coffee provided free drinks, specifically cold brews and matcha for over 250 students.
For Alyssa Jimenez, owner of Divine Coffee Co and Fresno State communications major, the House Cafe concept was something new. Despite this, she jumped at the opportunity to bring her business to campus, after being invited by Palma.
The two met in a class two semesters ago, where Jimenez shared her owning a coffee business as a fun fact which Palma remembered. Given the father-daughter coffee making duo were busy the entire event, Jimenez considered it a huge success, rating it a 10/10.
“It was really fun, especially since we only have one coffee place on campus,” Jimenez said. “It was just great to kind of bring in different businesses, especially student owned ones, as it just gets the word out and it just builds campus life.”
With a year left to graduate, Jimenez hopes to eventually open up a brick and mortar location as running her coffee business is something she would not trade for anything.
David Alexander Cuevas, known as DJ Cuevas, made sure to create a calm and chill House Cafe ambience, still allowing students to connect with each other over drinks and activities like sunglass decorating and photo ops.
Now a graphic designer and one of the founders of Casa De Untz, an upcoming label here in Fresno, Cuevas was invited to DJ the House Cafe through connections he has made as a Fresno State alumni.
“I like being able to give back, even if it’s just like a music set or maybe speaking on campus about my design, business and stuff like that. It’s just really cool at the end of the day to just have an impact,” Cuevas said.
DJ Cuevas will return to Fresno State for the Dog Daze Music Festival on May 2 at the Save Mart Center.
The House Cafe event was pre-health major Angelo Montes’ first time attending any Fresno State event. Montes came for the free coffee, which he missed out on but was able to snag a cow plushie and check out the resource fair in the plaza as well.
“I felt like it [attending college] was gonna be a rough transition, but something like this, it makes me feel a lot more like I am a student here at Fresno State,” he said. “You know, it makes me feel welcome.”
On the other hand, Armando Riojas, pre-business major, always tries to attend events for a few reasons: to not lose his parking spot, to get free stuff for friends who missed out and just to see what’s going on around campus.
“School can be hard, so I think it’s really cool to have something motivating like this event, that makes students happy to come to school and be excited for something,” he said.
More information and a list of remaining “I Heart Fresno State Week” events can be found here.
