On Friday, Nov. 17, ASPC packed Pomona College’s Stover Walk with vendors, ranging from DJs to food trucks to a pop-up tattoo shop. The event, dubbed Market Friday, was the first of its kind hosted by ASPC.
ASPC Commissioner of Campus Events Amarachi Aguwa PO ’24 and Vice President of Student Affairs Precious Omomofe PO ’24 created Market Friday and introduced it to Pomona students in an email the week before, advertising “enticing amenities” and calling for student vendors.
According to Omomofe and Aguwa, Market Friday was inspired by a similar event at Spelman College, which Aguwa learned about during a domestic exchange program last spring. The event at Spelman, which occurs nearly every Friday, highlights student vendors and small businesses on campus, as well as community vendors who pay Spelman to come and sell there.
Aguwa noted that a major difference between the events at the two colleges was that Pomona paid vendors to come. The money to pay vendors came out of the Pomona Events Committee (PEC) budget and cost $20,000, according to Omomofe.
Omomofe explained that because of this budget as well as the generosity of the vendors, many of the services — including tattoos, massages and tarot readings — were offered for free. Some vendors, like those providing tooth gems and permanent jewelry, offered $15 off for the first 50 students that showed up.
“That came from us negotiating with the vendors,” Omomofe said. “They were really nice. They were willing to work with us and make sure we could give as many discounted prices or free opportunities to as many students as possible.”
Some of the vendors went above and beyond what Aguwa and Omomofe hired them for. The tattoo vendor, Alpha 7 Ink & Arts studio, opened their doors to Pomona students even after the event ended and continued to offer free tattoos.
“They couldn’t get everyone during the duration of the event, and the guy felt bad that people were waiting in line for two hours and didn’t get anything,” Omomofe said. “When I went over, there was a line out the door of just Pomona students.”
Ultimately, Omomofe said, the vendor made sure that people were able to get the tattoos that they wanted, and the last person was tattooed at 11:00 p.m.
As for the future of Market Fridays, Aguwa and Omomofe are hopeful that the event might happen again. They encouraged students to join PEC so that events like these can continue to be held.
“I think a lot of people really enjoyed it,” Omomofe said. “We can have this as often as people are there to help.”
Aguwa highlighted the importance of hosting events like Market Fridays for students to help them unwind and be social.
“It’s a way to destress and get away from academics for a second,” Aguwa said. “Pomona students are very academic focused and that’s great, but we need to have that social aspect.”
Omomofe added that she hoped this event would help build back the Pomona community post-pandemic.
“Getting the community to come out has been a challenge, but I think with Market Friday, everyone with different backgrounds, different races, came out, which was really really nice, and [we saw] that vibrant community that Pomona was two years ago,” Omomofe said.
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