Campus Program Board boosts student events
The Campus Program Board (CPB) is bringing more of a weekend life to the University of Indianapolis with its “UIndy Nites!” committee scheduling events for students on Friday and Saturday nights.
Breaksk8 from America’s Best Dance Crew performed at the CPB Snowcoming Talent Show on Feb. 2 for a large crowd of UIndy students.
According to CPB President Joanna Huff, “UIndy Nites!” is a fairly new chair which is responsible for all of the weekend programs that have been scheduled recently this semester, such as the Dave and Busters Night and the Snowcoming Talent Show, where Breaksk8 from America’s Best Dance Crew performed afterwards.
“It was just created at the beginning of last year,” Huff said. “Before then it was called ‘Late Night.’ It was responsible for putting on a once-a-month program. Having a kind of program like that, once a month, wasn’t really suiting what our mission is.”
The “UIndy Nites!” committee is responsible for a lot of weekend programming. CPB found that many students were going home on the weekends due to the lack of campus entertainment.
“We wanted to create something that focused more on keeping students on campus, giving them other alternatives as opposed to going out and, in some instances, making bad decisions,” Huff said. “We’ve always heard ‘there’s nothing to do on the weekends.’”
New faces on the executive board are bringing many new ideas for events to plan, Huff said.
Usually events are scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights, but not Sundays because many students like to catch up on homework.
According to the “UIndy Nites!” chair, Alicia Dalrymple, the program has kept many of the same aspects as last year, but has also been enhanced. Movie nights are still held on one Friday every month, but they’re now raffling off DVD prize packs as well. In the past, Dalrymple said that usually there would only be 75 to 100 people that would show up to the movie night, but they’re seeing larger turn-outs this year.
“‘The Proposal’ was the first movie we showed in September,” Dalrymple said. “There were probably over 250 people jam-packed into [Good Recital Hall].”
Dalrymple said she tries to keep a balance between planning events that are on and off campus, as well as provide activities for all ages that are cost-effective.
“There is a lot of stuff to do in Indianapolis, but a lot of times it’s not free,” Dalrymple said. “With this, people are already paying for it with their Student Activity Fee and they’re getting to take advantage of what their tuition is providing them with.”
This semester, “UIndy Nites!” has already hosted a number of events such as the Dave and Busters Night and the Free Ice Skating.
“It’s a good thing,” junior Erin Cooper said. “It encourages students to stay on campus and get more involved. It’s nice because it doesn’t cost out-of-pocket money.”
CPB will continue these events and plans to schedule laser tagging in the near future.
“This chair has helped us a lot with giving other weekend programming,” Huff said. “To see things changing is really great.”
