Free food, games and a chance to meet old friends and make new ones. To kick off the semester with Stampede Week, university programming board, student involvement and various other sponsor members hosted a Late Night Scramble on Jan. 14 in the Legacy Multipurpose Room.
“It’s really good for being the first event in the semester,” Ruby Arriaga, activities coordinator and educational leadership graduate, said. “We had really good food, good turnout. They seem to be enjoying it too and they’re playing games.”
As part of activities coordinator, Arriaga coordinates with student run organizations to generate campus involvement. From block parties with free food to helping with the homecoming bonfire, Arriaga said student organizations drive involvement on campus.
After Rogelio Nuñez, psychology sophomore, heard there was going to be free food, he decided to attend the event. According to Nuñez, free food “always gets people out” and involved on campus, but more importantly the relationships built by attending these events starts off the semester on a good note. According to Nuñez, “getting a community gathering together” offers the students an opportunity to see their friends they haven’t seen over the break.
“The importance of Stampede Week is to have something for the students. After being a month or a summer away from here, they’re kind of homesick, so having activities like this is makes it, so they won’t be bored,” Arriaga said.
Kenadi Campbell computer science senior, and cinema chair of UPB, agrees with Arriaga, “especially for the fact” a lot of students had not moved back on campus.
“Stampede Week is important because it gives students an opportunity for something to do and if they’re new on campus,” Campbell said. “It gives them a chance to meet some people as well as people who’ve already been here, they get a chance to ease back into school, so you’re not just dropped in the center of it.”
Not only does Stampede Week connect on campus students, Campbell said students all over campus are able to participate in activities to build relationships.
“It gets everybody from all over the campus versus everybody who lives in Legacy or everybody who lives in Sundance, so you get the people who live off campus as well who come so you may meet someone who you never went who went to this school,” Campbell said.
According to Zayda Wilson, english freshman, events like this allow students to meet new people.
“For me, it’s really about getting to know new people and making new friends because I don’t want to be alone here,” Wilson. “I only know my brother and my roommate, so I’m trying to get out of my bubble and meet other people.”
