Union University’s Student Activities Council hosted their annual bingo competition for students on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Brewer Dining Hall.
The Student Activities Council, also known as SAC, has put on a bingo night in the dining hall for several years. They give away prizes to students only, and the students must show their IDs to enter.
On Tuesday night, students filled the Student Union Building’s main hallway from the entrance to Brewer to the very end of the hall near Barefoots Joe coffee shop.
“Our SAC members have been diligently advertising outside of Cobo for over a week and are always posting on social media,” said Leah Campbell, SAC president and junior music education major. “It was so fun to see the big crowd of people outside of Cobo waiting for the doors to open.”
The dining hall doors opened at 7:30 p.m. As students walked in, SAC members handed them 20 bingo sheets and a pen, and they began to fill the dining hall tables. Music was playing as people entered, and everyone was laughing and chatting with one another as they waited to potentially win a prize. SAC provided free pizza and candy for everyone as students got settled into their seats.
“Bingo is one of my favorite events that SAC does. Even though SAC members don’t get to win prizes, we still have just as much fun as everyone else,” said Campbell. “It’s a completely different atmosphere in Cobo than you will see during breakfast, lunch or dinner, and it brings a different crowd, I think, than some of our other events. People seemed to have fun, and there was a great turnout, so I would call that a success!”
SAC members, dressed in their red and white striped rugbies, helped with the event, greeting students, offering to take trash as they walked around the room and passing out more bingo sheets when needed. They also gave every table a list of rules and a sheet listing all of the prizes.
“I have been transitioning into my role as SAC president, so… I’ve been learning what that role looks like and what my responsibilities are while also planning Bingo,” said Campbell. “That part has been somewhat stressful, but thankfully, I have a great team of SAC members who are always willing to pitch in and do what is asked of them.”
The first round started at 7:51 p.m., and the first prize was a subscription to Disney+. The chatter hushed as a SAC member began to call out the numbers.
Throughout the night, there were several “hoorays” and “boos” as numbers were called. Once the crowd heard the word “BINGO” yelled, everyone turned to see who had won the prize. Music would play when a winner was announced, and the student body sang along as they waited for the next round.
“Bingo was an exciting escape from the homework stress, and it was a time to just have fun with friends while also competing for some awesome prizes,” said Aleah Petty, a sophomore ministry and missions major. “It was my first bingo experience, and I would give it a 10/10 for sure!”
Some of the rounds ended in ties, including a three-way tie for the 6-month succulent subscription. In order to win the tie, the students competed in a friendly competition of rock-paper-scissors.
“I think we also had a great variety of prizes this year,” Campbell said. “The 6-month succulent subscription was my favorite addition. We also offered gift cards to those that lost tie-breakers and added one final bingo round at the end of the event to give away the rest of the gift cards.”
Photo by Maggie Exum