By Tyler Bui | Staff Writer, Video by Nate Smith | Broadcast Reporter
Established in 2001, Baylor’s Late Night tradition serves as a platform to connect freshmen and new students with various clubs and organizations at Baylor.
Students gathered from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Friday in five different campus locations: the Bill Daniel Student Center (SUB), the McLane Student Life Center (SLC), Russell Gymnasium, The Bobo Spiritual Life Center and Moody Library.
Leaders from over 225 different student organizations provided information, food, games and prizes for the new students in hopes of getting them connected on campus.
Nashville, Tenn., junior Luke Rochford, president of co-ed business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi, said Late Night is a great opportunity to reach out to prospective students.
“The great part about Late Night is that it’s so early in the school year, so freshmen are still excited and ready to come see what’s out there,” Rochford said. “I find that Late Night is very good at connecting new students with organizations because it has everyone in one space. You have the opportunity to see a very broad range of student organizations on campus, and it makes it a lot easier for people to find things they are interested in.”
Rochford said he discovered Delta Sigma Pi through Late Night and encouraged students to use the event to find organizations to get involved in.
“When I first came to Baylor, I was excited to get involved on Baylor’s campus so I came to Late Night,” Rochford said. “I ran into the previous president of Delta Sigma Pi, and he and I talked for a good 15 to 20 minutes about Delta Sigma Pi, its values, its ethics and what it’s really about.”
Rochford said he hopes students will utilize Late Night for more than just perks like free food or merchandise from different organizations.
“I’m hoping freshmen will walk away from this event with more than just merchandise from tables; I hope they find organizations that match their interests,” Rochford said. “The point of Late Night is to get involved on campus outside of class because although we are college students, life is so much more than that.”
Dallas freshman Trevor Douglass attended Late Night with his roommate and friends from South Russell.
“I heard about Late Night from a couple of my friends who are upperclassmen; they said Late Night is a great opportunity to join some clubs and get exposed to what’s going on at Baylor,” Douglass said. “I’m hoping to find organizations that can help me get more connected with my business major.”
Dallas freshman Harrison Gossett said he was looking forward to getting more involved on campus and meeting new people with similar interests.
“It’s a really great way to connect. I think that Baylor throwing Late Night is a great way for freshmen to figure out what clubs they want to be a part of and what organizations they can get plugged into,” Gossett said. “If I had not attended Late Night, I wouldn’t have known about any of these organizations, so I’m really happy I did.”
To learn more about different on-campus organizations to join, visit the Baylor website.
