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By the end of Saturday's Late Night in Corcoran Commons, the chairs were all turned toward the stage, where The Bostonians, a folk-rock guitarist, and numerous other campus groups had performed.
The Lower Live performances were one of the events of the Nights on the Heights, a series of weekend activities aimed at giving students an on campus option without drinking.
"Currently students can hang out in their rooms or find parties, and occasionally things are going on but they're over at 8 or 9 o'clock," said Robyn Priest, program administrator for the Office of the Dean for Student Development. "We want to offer another option, one that's attractive to students, to make them feel like they don't need to travel to have fun."
After the men's hockey overtime tie against New Hampshire, guitarist Jonas Westbrook, A&S '06, performed in The Perch at McElroy. With about 100 people in attendance, both Priest and Westbrook saw the event in a positive light.
"It was great, I wasn't expecting as many people as actually came out," said Westbrook.
On both Friday and Saturday at midnight, M. Night Shyamalan's The Village was shown in Devlin 008. "The midnight movies were pretty successful," said Priest. "We had about 30 people each night, but we would have liked to see more."
Before the midnight movie on Saturday, karaoke was held in Carney's. Priest said that the event "went pretty well."
The events on Newton Campus were not as successful. On Friday, there was a volleyball tournament in the Quonset Hut. Although about 30 people registered for teams, the turnout was lower. Also, the lessons and open dance on Saturday, hosted by the Swing Kids, only had six attendees.
Priest specifically spoke with RAs at Newton, who said that they would like events at Newton so those freshmen wouldn't have to travel off campus. She mentioned that a lack of publicity could have been a factor in the low attendance for Newton events.
Shelly Brown, A&S '08, attended both the karaoke and volleyball tournaments and agreed with Priest that getting the word out was important.
"It's a good idea, but they need more publicity," she said. "A lot of people didn't know." She added that a weekend when there are no sporting events would bolster attendance.
It was the Corcoran Commons event that Priest recognized as the best of the bunch. The event featured performances from Fuego, Synergy, The Bostonians, the Philippine Society of Boston College, and the Committee for Creative Enactments.
Westbrook was also given a longer set for this performance, and shared the stage with Jarret Izzo, A&S '07, and Martin Rybek, CGSOM '06.
"It was a great opportunity to let tons of BC students perform, and they reached a crowd that they don't often get to reach," said Priest. "There isn't a lot of space on campus for student groups, so it was a nice option for them to perform and was well received by the students."
Although not all events were well-attended, Priest expressed optimism at the first attempt.
"Late Night programming is not one of those things you can do one time and expect an amazing turnout," she said. "But it was a really good starting point to help make argument to continue to get resources."
The next challenge for Priest and the UGBC is to look for means of permanent funding to make monthly weekend activities. Today, the committee that planned the events will reconvene to discuss future events.
"There seems to be student support, so we will come together to assess events and start strategizing to make case for funding," said Priest.
Students handed out surveys at the Perch event on Friday night asking whether this type of programming is needed, and what type of events are preferred. Priest said that students overwhelmingly supported having similar events on a monthly basis.
"Most campuses have student center, or have thriving culture of events," she said. "It is challenging at BC because we don't have a central location, so whenever things are put together they're here and there. There has never been a consistent culture with opportunities to meet new people and do things that are appealing."
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