Eager students gathered at UVU’s Grande Ballroom on Friday, Aug. 31 for the chance to win multiple prizes in a thrilling game of bingo.
UVU’s Bingo Night has been an annual event for the past few years. Students can play for the chance to win a variety of different prizes ranging from a bluetooth speaker to a box of cereal.
“Wolverine Bingo is provided by the UVUSA Activities Branch. For the fall semester it is put on by the Special Events Chair within the activities branch, which is my position,” said Annie Smith, UVUSA’s Special Events Chair. “The money is provided by the student fees paid at the beginning of the semester. Student fees pay for more than UVUSA events, but this is one of the areas that the fees are directed towards.”
This year’s Bingo Night’s theme was Disneyland, inspired by the grand prize being a trip to Disneyland. The Grande Ballroom was covered in Mickey Mouse balloons and posters, the lighting was colorful and Disney theme park music was played throughout the room. The entire room even smelled like theme park food, with popcorn handed out to students.
“Wolverine Bingo has always been a very popular event at UVU. It has some of the highest attendance records as far as our events go,” said Smith. “Because of the popularity of this event we wanted to continue forward with the tradition, adding little details this year such as lighting and scents to go along with our Disney theme.”
Smith went on to explain that she and the rest of the UVUSA team had been working on this event for the entirety of the summer and wanted the students to genuinely enjoy it.
Talia Jeppson, a freshman majoring in American Sign Language, was one of the winners from Bingo Night, and the winner of the Disneyland trip.
“I won the Disneyland trip and I’m so excited that I won,” said Jeppson. “I never win anything… so winning wasn’t really an expectation.”
Jeppson also said that she thought the bingo event had a fun environment and that she would definitely go again.
Marc Reynolds, student body president, who hosted the event as a “Disney Dad”, mentioned how proud he was of UVUSA for the event.
“UVUSA is in the business of creating a meaningful college experience, and the only way we are able to do what we do is because of our people,” said Reynolds. “Walt Disney once said, ‘You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But, it takes people to make the dream a reality.’ Our people are the secret and we’re doing what we can to create a community of proud Wolverines.”
Photos by True DeMille
