Children ran about the floors of Markin, with their faces painted like butterflies and stuffed lions clutched to their chests. A magician roamed around, performing card tricks to an audience of wide eyes. And music echoed, blasting the latest Jonas Brothers’ song.
March’s Late Night BU brought Siblings Weekend to the carnival. If you looked upwards at the ceiling of Markin, you just might have been able to see a circus tent.
Bradley is familiar with the monthly programming of Late Night BU. But as the tradition continues, students have mixed feelings about the success of the event.
A line stretched from one side of Markin to the other. Students waited patiently for the famous Portillo’s hotdogs and chocolate cake.
Kate Vetter, assistant director of programming of Student Activities, works to make LNBU successful. She talked about how the Student Activities Office defines success at LNBU.
Student turnout is the clearest definition of the event’s success.
Most years, the best-attended LNBU events are August and March, during Welcome Week and Siblings Weekend. These nights can bring upwards of 3,000 people. Vetter said 2,303 students attended the August LNBU.
Vetter estimated about 700 participants attended each of the LNBUs in the fall.
In defining success for LNBU, it’s also important to consider the program’s initial goal. As it states on the Bradley website, “Late Night BU is an alcohol-free night of entertainment planned, promoted and run by students.”
Sophomore construction major Ben Maust knows students who go to Late Night while drunk.
“I think it’s a well-known fact people show up
drunk,” Maust said.
Vetter said she knows this happens.
“Obviously, it’s a college campus,” she said.
But she stressed that the main goal of LNBU is to provide a space where students don’t feel pressured to engage in activities like drinking.
Later that night, a group of girls were at a table enjoying the Portillo’s hot dogs. Two younger siblings sat along one edge.
“People who come here aren’t the ones who are going to drink,” a junior health science major Aubrey Tate said.
But for others, it’s simply not convenient to attend LNBU.
Senior electrical engineering major Eric Jones is a commuter. He’s never been to any Late Nights, not even his freshman year.
“It’s just not for me,” Jones said.
The girls thought positively of the night’s success.
“This was the best Late Night so far,” said Tate.
