Late Night at the Rec fills the night with fun

  • Students challenge themselves on the rock wall. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Students close out the event with a game of giant volleyball at midnight. Many expressed the opinion that they would like to see this event happen again soon.

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  • Students spin the wheel to see what prize they won. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Students take their prizes from the table. Prizes included water bottles, drawstring bags and coupons for local businesses.

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  • (From left to right) Laura Rivas Wright, Pat Moore and Liz Ngatia work the prize table. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Employees help students plant their succulents. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Kari Edelman, a freshman business major, displays her finished succulent pot. Edelman enjoyed the new activity.

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  • A student aims for a t-shirt with a foam-tip arrow. T-shirt archery was another new activity, giving students the chance to win a t-shirt.

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  • A group of friends plays a game of basketball together. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Students engage in some friendly competition with a game of cornhole. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Spikeball gives students a chance to show off their hand-eye coordination. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Students enjoy a Friday night together at the SRWC. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Some students try out the treadmills and ellipticals upstairs. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Some students come to the Rec simply for their daily workout. There were fitness challenges for those who wanted to use their skills to win prizes.

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  • Students race to the center to start the game. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Students battle each other for the foam balls. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • The intense, yet friendly, game of dodgeball begins. Late Night at the Rec was Feb. 25, 2022.

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  • Jack Van Dam, the Residence Hall Coordinator of the LLC, participates in the game. Residential Living was one of the supporters of this event, along with OSID.

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  • Khalea Bergman, a group fitness instructor at the SRWC, invites students into her class. Bergman was excited to share her love for creativity and dance through her classes.

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Students gathered at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center Friday, Feb. 25, from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. for a night of games and social interaction. This is the first year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that the center was able to host this event.

It was clear that students were excited for Late Night at the Rec to be back. The gym was filled with students playing basketball, spikeball, t-shirt archery and cornhole. While most people were on the main level, some competed in fitness challenges upstairs for the chance to win big prizes. Other prizes, such as coupons and SRWC gear, were offered in the multi-purpose room for anyone who spun the prize wheel.

Group fitness classes also took place during this event. Khalea Bergman, a first-year sophomore nursing major, instructed 10-minute High Intensity Interval Training and Zumba classes for attendees. She normally instructs these on Tuesday and Thursday nights, but thought it would be fun to have classes with blacklights for this event.

“It’s really awesome to see everyone get to come together and actually do some fun stuff,” Bergman said. “I love working at the Rec because it’s allowed me to get to know a lot more people on campus.”

At 10:30 p.m., students assembled in the gym for one big game of dodgeball. Liz Duvall, a junior communications major, participated in the intense game and joined for a second round that pitted grade levels against each other.

“I kicked butt in dodgeball,” Duvall said. “It’s fantastic, they didn’t have Late Night at the Rec last year, so I finally got the chance to come to one.”

The night closed out with a game of giant volleyball. Divita Gadtaula, a freshman international student from Nepal majoring in nursing, had fun playing this with her friends and the Rec employees.

“I came here last semester, and it was equally fun,” Gadtaula said. “I hope they do this next year also.”

Although everyone enjoyed being together, many students are irritated that they still have to wear masks, especially while engaging in physical activity.

“It’s definitely restricted,” said Aiden Sothers, a sophomore welding major and SRWC employee. “If I didn’t have to wear a mask, I would’ve liked it a lot more.”

Everyone looks forward to the end of the pandemic so that peers can have even more fun on campus together. Until then, students hope that the university will continue to allow them to participate in enjoyable events like this one.

Edited by: Ellie Walker, Justin Shepard