Extracurricular fun

Student Activities to offer a wide variety of events throughout the semester

As a record number of residential students settle into campus and adjust to the daily grind of classes, Student Activities has scheduled a semester filled with trips, camping and an array of on-campus activities.

One of these activities is a game night, set to take place in the LaHaye Event Space Friday, Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.

This is a time for students to come play classic board games such as Clue and Monopoly.

There will also be multiple video game systems set up, with tournaments for FIFA 16 on the Xbox One and for NBA 2K16 on the Playstation 4.

Students will have the chance to win hundreds of dollars in prizes throughout the night, according to the Student Activities website.

Drew Snavely, event supervisor for Student Activities, believes there will be a good turnout for game nights.

“We typically get anywhere from 200 to 400 people at our game nights,” Snavely said.

Student Activities will also host multiple outdoor movie nights throughout the semester, with the first happening at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 on the Dorm 28 fields. “Finding Dory” will be shown and concessions will be available along with complimentary popcorn.

The second movie night of the semester will be a showing of “Captain America: Civil War” at Williams Stadium on Sept. 24 at 10:30 p.m., following that night’s football game.

Trivia nights and bingo nights also take place in the LaHaye Event Space, where students will have the opportunity to win more prizes.

Trivia night consists of teams of up to six people, and is set for Sept. 17 with team registration beginning at 8 p.m.

Open mic nights will also occur throughout the semester, giving students the opportunity to showcase their on-stage talents.

Students are encouraged to share music, comedy or poetry from the stage, or just come to watch other performers.

A new event that will be debuting this year will be a lip sync battle, similar in style to those seen on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” according to Snavely. “We are very excited to see the turnout for the lip sync battle, as it is a new event,” Snavely said.

Student Activities is also offering laser tag Sept. 30, set to take place on the paintball fields.

There will first be a tournament featuring 16 teams, with five people allowed per team.

Free play will be offered after the tournament, again in teams of five.

Music is an important part of what Student Activities does, as they put on many concerts for the student body throughout the semester.

This semester, groups such as Vertical Church Band, Switchfoot, Relient K and NEEDTOBREATHE will come to campus.

While these concerts are open to the public, students do receive a discount on tickets.Concert tickets can be purchased through the MyLU page, under the ticket portal.

Another event that Student Activities hosts is Coffeehouse, which happens near Christmas and again towards the end of the spring semester. This is another event that allows students to showcase their talents in front of classmates.

Coffeehouse is Snavely’s favorite event of the semester.

“So much work … goes into Coffeehouse, that when we get to see the final product, it feels so rewarding,” Snavely said.

Student Activities also hosts trips off-campus throughout the semester.

Students are invited to take part in outdoor activities, such as bouldering at White Rocks, Virginia or camping at Virginia Beach.

An event that happens each semester is a trip to Washington, D.C. Student Activities organizes buses to take students to D.C.’s Union Station, offering students an opportunity to explore the nation’s capital.

More events are set to be added throughout the semester. The most current list of events can be found on the Student Activities website and on the MyLU homepage.

Whittaker is a feature writer.