Newman University students gathered in the Dugan-Gorges Conference Center for some delicious breakfast food, games and prizes as a way to kick back and relax before finals week.
The semiannual “Breakfast and Bingo,” which is free to students and is hosted by the Campus Activities Board (CAB), took place from 8-11 p.m. Dec. 10, with more than 300 students in attendance.
The event is a way for students to de-stress and have some quality time to relax.
“Students go once a semester at the end … it’s just a lot of fun,” said senior Daniella Buedden. “Everyone laughs, it’s one big giant stress reliever. You eat some great breakfast food and play some bingo. The prizes are pretty cool — this year’s included a FitBit Blaze, a TV, a phone photo printer and a $200 Visa gift card. They also do raffles throughout.”
Becca Kopper, a senior, also attended the fun-filled evening and said everyone was excited and the event was really well-attended. She said the attendance grows each and every semester.
“It’s a fun event at the end of the year that people really look forward to, and you even have a lot of freshmen that attended. I think that’s from word of mouth; they hear so many good things about it.”
Kopper said her roommate, Callie Mauk, was the winner of the TV and she was very happy.
“Callie said to me, ‘I never win anything,’ so she was just really excited. And she graduates this week so it’s one of those last hoorah moments.”
Devin Smith, diversity graduate assistant, and Jerricus Funderburke, residence life graduate assistant, emceed the evening’s festivities. Student Amy Emerson commented on a job well-done from the duo, saying they “played off of each other well and had some funny jokes throughout the night.”
Emerson explained, “The evening started off with a Sloppy Joe performance and then after that they set up the breakfast tables and the students had some time to sit and chat with friends or work on homework until 10 p.m. Bingo began at 10 p.m. — students had until that time to come in and get their bingo card and a raffle ticket.
“There were some ties, which made for some fun excitement,” added Emerson. “When that happened the winners went up to the front and drew from a deck of cards and the highest card won.”
Sophomore Brigette Sponsel, who is also part of CAB, said, “We initially start planning at the beginning of the semester to organize a theme and prize ideas. This semester’s theme was a winter wonderland theme and we decorated with blue tablecloths and other wintery items. The most exciting part throughout the night was when people actually won the bingo games, especially if it was at the same time.”
Sponsel said that this bingo event is different from others because of the additional chances to win.
“Students were excited about the night and we had a really good turnout. I think what sets this bingo off from others is the raffle prizes — so even if you don’t win a bingo, you still have a chance to win a raffle prize.
“The students really enjoy having a free event like this to de-stress before finals, hang out with their friends and hopefully win a prize.”
