Greg Klesaris
“If you need something done, Greg is the man to ask.”
- Matthew Murphy, Former Principal, Earl L. Vandermeulen High School
“Greg is exceptional. I have worked with many college students over my twenty year career, and Greg truly stands out.”
- Sara Klein, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Stevens Institute of Technology
“A leader that senior level administrators rely on as much as they do a professional with years of experience.”
- Kristie Damell, Associate Dean of Students and Title IX Coordinator, Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Holiday Tree Lighting 2017
Inspired by Greg Klesaris' passion for large production shows at a young age, came the Stevens Annual Holiday Tree Lighting. Participation grew from 2014 with 150 attendees, and 10,000 lights to 1,200 attendees and 160,000 in 2017. The event is now the most significant tradition on the Stevens campus. To make the event “the most wonderful time of the year”, Greg and his team have gathered the support of Facilities, Campus Police, University Events, Stevens Dining, and the Office of Student Affairs to make this event a true spectacular. The event has superseded the quality of many nearby landmark venues of the holiday season, a goal of any creator.
The Entertainment Committee
The Entertainment Committee is the largest student-run organization at Stevens Institute of Technology. Greg Klesaris has been President of the Entertainment Committee since March 2014, running over 230 campus-wide events to date. The Entertainment Committee operates with a budget of more than $500,000 each year and a staff of about 20 students to coordinate the 60 award-winning campus-wide events for groups of up to 1,300 people. The Entertainment Committee runs both on and off campus events like the Annual Holiday Tree Lighting, campus-wide concerts, the Harvest Moon Fall Festival, and subsidizes tickets to Broadway shows, music concerts, and NY/NJ sporting events.
Annual Holiday Tree Lighting
The Annual Holiday Tree Lighting is a campus tradition that was started by Greg Klesaris in 2014 that brings over 1,200 students together each holiday season. Greg coordinates and is responsible for the entire campus lighting of over 160,000 lights with support from students, Facilities, Campus Police, University Events, Stevens Dining, the Office of Student Affairs, and the Tree Lighting Division of the Entertainment Committee.
Harvest Moon Fall Festival
The Annual Harvest Moon Fall Festival is the perfect way for students, faculty and staff to start off their fall season! The festival includes fall foods, pumpkins, arts and crafts, and plenty of other autumn activities. The event was successful in bringing over 1,000 members of the Stevens Community together. Originally introduced in 2014, Greg Klesaris thought it would be best to develop the concepts of the event further before reintroducing it to the Stevens Community in 2017, when it was named a “Campus Tradition” by the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs.
Midnight Breakfast
Midnight Breakfast is an semi-annual tradition celebration at Stevens Institute of Technology during finals week. The Entertainment Committee with support from Stevens Dining and the Office of Residence Life transform the main dining hall into a breakfast-for-dinner relaxing event at midnight. Students can enjoy massages, karaoke, food, and many other activities to relax. The event went through a major overhaul after the Stevens administration decided that Greg Klesaris and the Entertainment Committee should handle the planning, logistics, and running of the event.
The Campus Life Committee
The Campus Life Committee is the only student-run campus capital improvement organization at Stevens Institute of Technology. With a semesterly budget allotment, the Campus Life Committee improves the lives of all student, faculty, and staff at Stevens. Some of these improvements include projects such as replacing all existing water fountains with eco-friendly bottle filling stations, creating and maintaining the outdoor beach volleyball court, and purchasing and maintaining the campus outdoor furniture and decor. Greg Klesaris was the President of the Campus Life Committee from April 2014 through April 2017.
Eco-Friendly Water Bottle Filling Stations
Over 20 Eco-Friendly Water Bottle Filling Stations have been installed throughout the campus at Stevens Institute of Technology under the combined effort of the Campus Life Committee and the Division of Facilities. These filling stations have saved over 1,000,000 bottles since they were installed a few years ago. Greg Klesaris installed these same fountains in his high school, and was perfect to takeover the project at Stevens. The fountains were installed over multiple phases, including residence halls, academics buildings, and more.
Outdoor Campus Furniture
Located in the 4th densest city in the United States, Stevens is fortunate to have over 55 acres of property on the Hudson River with almost half the area being green space. It is very important to have outdoor furniture available to community members to be able to enjoy the green space. Over the last few years Greg Klesaris and the Campus Life Committee have brought over 75 Adirondack chairs, picnic tables and other furniture to campus handling everything from purchasing and accounting to delivery and installation.
Outdoor Beach Volleyball Court
The Campus Life Committee installed the Stevens Beach Volleyball Court with the assistance of the Office of Student Life and the Division of Facilities, by contracting the work to outside vendors. After the initial installation, the Campus Life Committee continues to budget the maintenance work of the court including deliveries, equipment upgrades, lawn upgrades and more. The court allows students a space on campus to relax and unwind from their difficult academic course loads.
Other Endeavors
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
It has been a tradition for almost 35 years for Stevens students, faculty, staff, and alumni to be the man-power behind Macy’s Studios in piloting and inflating the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Stevens Community members take both classroom and field training to ensure that they are ready to pilot the million dollar balloons down the streets of Manhattan. After spending 20 hours on Thanksgiving Eve inflating the balloons, Stevens Community members wake up at 4am on Thanksgiving Day to prepare their vehicle teams for the balloon’s flight! Greg Klesaris was the Assistant Anchor Vehicle Manager on the “Hello Kitty” float for this past year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, making sure the balloon stayed perfectly within the bounds of the NYC streets.
First Year Student Move-In Day
Over 800 nervous First-Year Students move into their residence halls in the middle of August at Stevens. This day takes coordination from almost every department. Stevens is located in the 4th densest city in the United States, Hoboken, meaning that they must be conscious of how events affect the community. During Move-In Day more than 1,000 cars, buses, and trucks drive through the entrance of campus. It is imperative that the flow of traffic through the entrance stays steady and does not bottleneck. For the last 3 years, Greg Klesaris has been in charge of the operation of the entrance and first residence hall to make sure that traffic flows smoothly and that students moving into the first residence hall unload efficiently.
Yacht Sea Trial Testing
Greg Klesaris graduated with a Naval Engineering degree in May of 2017, and is currently finishing his Masters of Ocean Engineering. Throughout this process he works part time for Ocean Alexander in Merritt Island, Florida as a Project Manager and Sea Trial Engineer ensuring the $4 million dollar yachts are up to the high-standards of the customers. This job includes running sea trials on the nearly complete yachts at the manufacturer, as well as completing model tests at the Davidson Lab Towing Tank at Stevens Institute of Technology. The importance of Sea Trials is often overlooked, but Greg makes sure to put the boat through its paces before it is released to the customer.