SCSU Owls Fly Downtown, Crash Wedding

Some couples have doves at their wedding. Zeliha and Mesut Toprak unexpectedly had owls at theirs at City Hall.

The couple was in the process of being married under a bower in the second-story atrium Friday afternoon when a tour group of Southern Connecticut State University students — aka SCSU ​“Owls” — happened to be in the midst of a get-to-know-downtown New Haven tour along with their university president Joe Bertolino.

Wearing white shirts with the school’s owl mascot on the back, the students rounded the corner and crashed the wedding.

After they said their vows, the couple was a little startled to hear all the applause and calls of congratulations. And since no wedding is complete without well-wishes and gifts, Bertolino did the honors, offering two shirts to the couple.

Zeliha Toprak said having the students and the president of the university as unexpected guests at the wedding was fun, especially since the couples’ family is in Turkey and couldn’t be there.

“It was fun and memorable,” she said.

Bertolino said that the purpose of the downtown tour, the first of more to come, is to connect students with their peers and fellow alumni in the city— and to remind New Haven that it’s not a one-horse university town.

“We’re letting people know that Yale is a nice place, but we’re here too,” he said.

The students were in the heart of downtown New Haven Friday to learn a little about the city that is their home away from home. They met local business owners and managers at popular spots downtown like Starbucks, Temple Grill, and Shake Shack where students frequent or work.

They started their journey meeting Michael Ianuzzi, owner of TYCO Printing. Ianuzzi graduated from Southern in 1972 with a degree in education. In fact, TYCO got its start not downtown but right on Southern’s campus.

Ianuzzi said it means a lot that students and the current president of the university would stop by his shop and maintain that connection.

“It’s very special,” he said.

The tour wound its way to City Hall for a tour, where students learned fun facts about New Haven and her government.

Al Lucas, the city’s director of legislative services, gave them a historical and geographical tip about how serious the city’s founding citizens were about their quest for a home that respected the separation of church and state.

If you look at the layout of the Green, he said, the churches are on the opposite side from City Hall. There’s also another way to remember.

“There’s Church Street and State Street,” he said. ​“The two run parallel. They never meet.”

Another fun fact? The red antique fire engine on display downstairs in City Hall is a pretty good place to catch Pokémon. At the height of the game’s popularity, random people could be found doing just that.

Sure enough, a student whipped out his smartphone to see if it was still an active site. It was.

While catching historical facts about Benedict Arnold, the students caught the Toprak nuptials before heading to Starbucks and the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce and the 11th-floor suite that is home to Southern on the Green. Southern on the Green is a space in the Chamber where Southern students can find a quiet place in the hustle and bustle of downtown to do some work.

There they met with Chamber President Tony Rescigno, who will soon be a familiar face on Southern’s campus. After 17 years with the chamber, Rescigno plans to retire and assume a spot as Southern’s business executive in residence. He will help connect the business school and students to the local business community. He’s already doing some of that work on a part-time basis but will move on campus starting in January.

His advice to the students Friday: Get a job.

“It’s important to your resume to have work experience,” he said. The students were already ahead of the curve. The majority of the 18 students already work at least a part-time job on campus.

The next stop was to meet Brian Gilhuly, who owns Temple Grill, among the top six restaurants that Southern students frequent in the city. The fact that it is just a block and a half away from where a Southern bus drops students on the Green definitely helps, he said.

“The younger customers are definitely into our build-your-own salads and pastas,” he said. ​“It allows you to get exactly what you want and now what some chef wants to put on your plate.”

One of the last stops before the tour stopped for dinner at Wall Street Pizza was at Shake Shack, another downtown eatery managed by a Southern student.

While Bertolino and the students waited to meet the manager, they realized that they were crashing the dining experience of an 11-year-old named Carmello and his mom.

Not one to waste an opportunity to plant a seed for Southern, Bertolino asked Carmello, ​“Do you want to go to college?”

The sixth-grader shrugged. Carmello’s mother said she certainly never expected that burger and fries might lead to a chance meeting with the president of a local university.

Bertolino gave Carmello a pennant featuring Southern’s new blue owl and said that if he ever decides to apply, ​“Ask for President Joe, and I will hook you up.”