Friday night will kick off IMU Late Nights, a weekly series of free events hosted by the Indiana Memorial Union.
"We looked at what there is on campus and there’s not a lot of alternatives for students to do on a Friday night if they don’t want to go down to Kirkwood or participate in the other parties and events that are going on around campus," Ryan Clemons, Games Center Manager at the IMU, said.
He said they wanted to create an event for students who felt out of place in the party scene or who are just in search of weekend plans.
Every Friday night, the IMU will be open for bowling, billiards and crafts from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Burger King will remain open from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
This Friday will include two comedy shows and music provided by WIUX's Mobile DJ, Alec Steinmetz.
Clemons said IU has a reputation for being a party school.
"I think there’s a lot of students who don’t necessarily want to partake in that on a weekly basis and if we don’t offer anything as an alternative, then we’re just leaving those students to figure something out on their own, which is probably not the best thing for the university to do."
Once a month, Clemons said they will partner with the Union Board to host larger events, such as programs dedicated to Valentine's Day or the Little 500 and an event creating a mini-World's Fair with partnersip from campus cultural centers.
They also plan to host combined events with RPS and OASIS.
OASIS is a department of the IU Health Center that provides campus-wide alcohol and drug prevention, education and intervention. They received a grant to provide late-night programming this semester.
"We’re all just looking at how we can connect things together and really try to offer multiple ways for students to participate in these late-night events," Clemons said.
