By Bridget Sjoberg | Staff Writer
A variety of different campus groups were available for freshmen to explore at one of Baylor’s most cherished traditions — Late Night.
This year’s Late Night took place from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Friday and spanned five different campus locations — the Bill Daniel Student Center, Moody Library, Russell Gymnasium, the Bobo Spiritual Life Center and the McLane Student Life Center. Each organization had a booth with representatives from their campus group.
“Established in 2001, Late Night is one of the most anticipated programs of the fall semester,” the Student Activities website says. “New students have the opportunity to meet student leaders from over 225 student organizations and learn about the many opportunities for campus involvement.”
Many freshmen appeared to be ready to jump in and get involved in organizations that piqued their interests.
“There’s a lot of people here, but that means more clubs to join,” Dallas freshman Kate Douthit said. “I loved all the food and getting the chance to meet new people.”
Wellsville, Pa. freshman Morgan Shanahan agreed, noting what a special opportunity Late Night is in terms of introducing new students to campus involvement.
“I was looking forward to joining new clubs, seeing what’s new and meeting new people,” Shanahan said. “It’s busy and hard to find your way around sometimes, but I’m not scared — I’m excited.”
San Francisco freshman Rachel George appreciated Late Night’s high energy environment and the willingness of student leaders to welcome new members into their campus groups.
“Everyone here was super friendly and had lots of energy,” George said. “I felt very welcome the entire time.”
George is a biology major and was interested in finding groups related to pre-med and cultural organizations to get in touch with her ethnicity.
“I was excited to meet new people, find my place at Baylor and form a community out of that,” said George. “AMSA (American Medical Student’s Association) came up to me and asked if I was pre-med. They kind of brought me to them instead of me looking for them and I thought that was pretty cool.”
Springtown freshman Weston Plumlee loved the variety of groups present at Late Night and looked forward to finding groups that related to his interests.
“I liked the Psychology club and the Esports club since I’m a pretty big gamer,” Plumlee said. “My favorite thing to do is wrestling, and I was excited to find things to get involved in.”
Sugarland freshman Isabella Hernandez felt connected to groups planning campus traditions like Homecoming and Diadeloso, and saw Late Night as a great start to her freshman year.
“It was chaotic, but a good kind of chaotic,” Hernandez said. “You kind of just dive in, but are easily able to find groups you connect with and relate to.”
