Most alums leave Illinois State with at least a few late-night adventures under their belt, but few probably involve a Quad pig roast, black light dance party or a candy mega-festival called “Reggie and the Chocolate Factory.”
Those have been some of the marquee events from Up Late at State, a 1-year-old program under the Dean of Students Office that’s off to a quick start. Late Night Programs Specialist Michelle Stover, who runs Up Late, was hired in July 2011 and hosted her first event, Glow Fest 2011, two months later.
“I had no idea how many students to expect,” Stover told STATEside. “We planned for 300, and had over 1,100. We ran out of everything in like 15 minutes.”
The goal of Illinois State’s new late-night programming is to offer students an alternative to drinking, specifically binge drinking, said Harriett Steinbach, coordinator for Student and Community Outreach with the Dean of Students. Most Up Late events start at 9 p.m. on Thursdays or Fridays and run until midnight.
“Attending an Up Late event doesn’t mean students don’t drink, but it could mean that they are not drinking on that particular night or that rather than starting to drink at 7 p.m. all night long, a student comes to the event and then doesn’t start drinking until 11 p.m., thus reducing the amount of alcohol the student is consuming and the amount of time he/she is drinking,” Steinbach said.
Stover has cooked up a diverse plate of popular Up Late programs in the past year – all highly interactive and highly free. Last year’s 10 events included Casino Royale, a gaming event with semi-formal attire at Uptown’s fancy Marriott Hotel, and Totally Zen, complete with an oxygen bar and massage chairs. The next event, Backyard Bonfire, is set for 9 p.m. Thursday between Redbird Arena and Horton Fieldhouse.
Several of them drew more than 500 students, Stover said, and Glow Fest 2012 in August set a new attendance record with more than 1,400 attendees.
“It’s more of these grandiose programs that students have never seen on campus,” said Stover, a 2008 Ohio State grad who earned her master’s in higher education administration from Dayton in 2011.
The trick, she says, is in the marketing. In addition to pumping information out through social media, she’s been using real-world tactics like pull-tab posters and custom Post-It notepads distributed by her staff of 18 paid part-time student workers. Before the Reggie and the Chocolate Factory event November 9 at the Student Fitness Center, candy will be given out to students ahead of time – and a limited amount will come with a special “golden ticket” for early admission.
Up Late’s programming has drawn a diverse blend of students from all corners of campus. That includes just as many juniors and seniors as underclassmen, Stover said.
“For the first year of a brand new program, Up Late at State far surpassed what we imagined,” Steinbach said.
Check out Up Late at State’s full calendar on its Facebook page.
Ryan Denham can be reached at rmdenha@ilstu.edu.
