By Nicki Briggs
Writer
Activities and Campus Events (ACE) is a student-run organization that specializes in bringing entertainment to the student body by planning all different kinds of events. At the start of this past semester, the club decided to make changes to its programming in response to the Campus Climate Report’s results which demonstrated that many students were unaware of the social options available to them on weekends besides partying.
“The Campus Climate report really highlighted for us the fact that students don’t know about the options they have on the weekends for events that don’t involve alcohol. This made us want to step up not only our publicity, but the size of the events. Instead of spreading ourselves thin with five events every weekend, we’re putting all our energy into one huge event each weekend,” ACE President Lauren Rambo ’12 said.
“One of the reasons we decided to enact this change was we felt that our old structure and organization just wasn’t meeting the needs or wants of the campus. When you have tons of people showing up to events like BU After Dark, but only a few to the smaller events like Late Night performances, that says something about what the student body enjoys,” Elena Latzen ’14 said.
Some of the new events that have been well received by the student body so far were Bingo Blingo in Bostwick Marketplace and Just Desserts in the Terrace Room, with over 600 students attending both. Coming up is the always-popular BU After Dark which features a spectacular turnout every semester.
“I always try to stop by BU After Dark regardless of what else I have going on those nights,” Neil Dold ’12 said.
Later this semester are the Spa Spectacular event on the second floor of the Elaine Langone Center and an Arcade Night in the student hearth space. ACE is also working hard to try to bring a block party to campus for the spring as well as planning Chrysalis. All of these events are run in collaboration with different groups on campus.
The response has been phenomenal to the new method of having students perform at Seventh Street Café each Friday night instead of hiring professional artists. This has produced an increase in popularity, as students show up to support their friends and fellow classmates each week. Anyone interested in performing should stop by the CAP Center to set up a time.
ACE’s new planning initiative has proven successful so far, and will likely continue to please students for the remainder of the semester.