Students packed the bowling lanes from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. last Friday at the Indiana Memorial Union, which is business as usual during IMU Late Nite events.
The Late Nite program is promoted as a weekend alternative to late-night partying. Every Friday in the Commons area of the IMU, Late Nite provides trivia, live music and free bowling and billiards as part of the series. Once a month, Late Nite coordinates a themed Big Friday program, which includes flashier attractions such as inflatables, laser tag and casino games.
The Late Nite Committee focuses mainly on the Big Friday events. Big Fridays usually have an attendance of about 500 students and the committee is actively working on outreach to diversify the kinds of students who attend, said Late Nite student director Taylor Harris.
“I know that we are starting to get more graduate students and international students to come, so that’s a big, exciting part for me,” she said. “We’re looking to see how we can program for them.”
Although the monthly Big Fridays are Late Nite’s main attraction, many students also come out to the weekly Late Nite events. Last Friday, the program included bulletin board crafts, board games, live music and free bowling and billiards.
IMU bowling and billiards supervisor Jesse White said that Late Nite hours are the busiest of the week for the bowling alley.
“Right now we have a waitlist of an hour and 45 minutes,” he said. “That’s honestly average on Friday nights.”
White said that the only other time the facility is close to being as busy as Friday nights is when student organizations, such as fraternities and sororities, rent out all 12 lanes.
“But they’re not usually using all of our video games, and they’re not usually taking up all 10 of our billiards tables,” he said.
IU Freshman Aumunique Page was such a frequent Late Nite attendee last semester that she decided to volunteer for the committee and now frequently supervises the arts and crafts tables.
“Me and my friends would come here all the time, and I really liked how the people were and how the people treated us,” Page said.
Two other IU freshmen in attendance, Celine Fernandez and Brenda Diaz, said that they found out about Late Nite thanks to the promotional flyers posted around campus. The two were volunteering at the check-in table as part of a partnership between IMU Late Nite and Latinos Unidos IU, or LUIU. Fernandez said she came to Late Nite multiple times last semester.
“Ever since I had my first Late Nite, I’ve liked coming to them when I have nothing else to do,” Fernandez said. “They have a whole bunch of cute arts-and-craft-y stuff to do.”
Kylie Philips, also an IU freshman, said that she appreciated the University’s attempt to provide an alternative to drinking and partying on the weekends. This past Friday, she was at the arts and crafts table making a painted corkboard with her friend Andrea Garcia, who was visiting for the weekend.
“It offers an opportunity for people that, like, don’t go out and drink – like something for them to go do on a Friday night rather than sit in your room or whatever,” Philips said.
