Almost 500 snappily dressed second-years in the College gathered last night to dine with faculty members at the Class of 2008 Faculty Roundtables in Ida Noyes Hall.

The annual event matched up 80 faculty members with students interested in their respective fields to discuss the questions that rarely come up in other settings.

“It isn’t class, it isn’t office hours, it isn’t graded—it’s informal,” said Constantin Fasolt, master of the Social Sciences Collegiate Division and history professor.

Dressed in business-casual attire, students sat together in small groups with a professor to eat a multi-course meal before retiring to a dessert reception.

“We want to give students an opportunity to talk to faculty, and why not give everyone a formal dinner while we’re at it?” said Lori Hurvits, director of the College Programming Office (CPO), which runs the event.

Christopher Whaley, a second-year economics concentrator, said he wanted “just to talk to faculty about opportunities after college and how they got to where they are now—and free dinner.”

The Faculty Roundtables is one of the CPO’s annual programs to help students learn more about opportunities at and after the University. The progression of programs, Hurvitz said, is an attempt to influence students “as they’re about to make big decisions.”