By Josh Siatkowski | Staff Writer
It’s not often that a tiny campus organization asks student government for enough money to make a down payment on a house.
But Hispanic fraternity Omega Delta Phi and its roughly 20 members are swinging big for their latest event. Part talent show, part student-directed feature film screening, “A Night Under the Stars” combines the fraternity with a recent Baylor grad’s production company and a current senior’s nonprofit.
The $33,000 funding request is to pay for the rental of a stage, a lighting system, a sound system and other production items necessary for the event, said San Antonio senior Alan Koroluk, president of Omega Delta Phi.
“The whole point of the event is to show not only Waco, but Texas and the nation, what Baylor students can do,” Koroluk said.
The event, which will take place on the evening of Nov. 7 at Fountain Mall, will feature eight performances with live voting from the audience, an array of food trucks and a premiere of “A Celebration of Everlasting Color,” an hour-long feature film created entirely by Baylor students and led by Aaron Rivera, a 2025 Baylor graduate.
The idea for A Night Under the Stars stemmed from Koroluk and Rivera’s brainstorming on how to screen the film, which was created last spring.
“[The film] is the first movie from a Baylor student that literally nobody else helped on,” Koroluk said. “So that became a core theme — what students can do. And what is the best way to show students’ talent? A talent show.”
But before A Night Under the Stars became a reality, it dealt with the question of when to seek approval and funding — and for good reason.
Charlotte, N.C., MBA student Brandon Clarke, a former student senator and member of the Finance Committee, is a friend of Rivera who helped facilitate the funding request. He said Omega Delta Phi’s submission was the largest Student Government Allocation Fund application he had ever seen outside of Pi Beta Phi’s application for Howdy.
“For normal student government funding requests, you’re looking at $6,000 to $7,000, maybe $8,000 tops,” Clarke said. “But for a small fraternity like they were, coming in for $33,000, that’s going to raise some eyebrows. From my own personal experience, [it was] one of the largest individual requests I’ve ever seen.”
After Koroluk and Rivera presented the event to student government, the Senate deliberated over the request for approximately six hours, which multiple people claim is a record, although this wasn’t confirmed.
DeRidder, La., junior and Student Government Internal Vice President Ashlyn Graves, who leads the Student Senate, could not disclose the specific arguments raised during the hours-long deliberation.
“The Senate devoted extended time to thoughtfully consider the request because of the scope of the event and the size of the funding request,” Graves said.
Koroluk said the request, though significant, was justified by the scale of the event and the degree of seriousness with which they are preparing it.
“The total budget that we needed was around $33,000,” Koroluk said. “That was for us to have the stage, the contestants … Everything was to have the best show possible.”
But the other concern was more complicated, sparking discussion not only within student government but also among university officials. Omega Delta Phi is working with a number of outside groups not registered as student organizations, to the point that the event seemed more like a “professional” one than a “student” one in Baylor’s eyes, Koroluk said.
Technically — on Connect, at least — A Night Under the Stars is being put on by Omega Delta Phi. But at its core, A Night Under the Stars is a “three-way amalgamation,” as Clarke put it, between the fraternity, Rivera’s production company Moonlight Ark Productions and Koroluk’s nonprofit, “Take Action. Volunteer,” which he started in high school to connect young people with service opportunities. A Night Under the Stars also has a number of community sponsors, including Waco Escape Rooms and the Dr Pepper Museum, and it will rent equipment from Fort Worth-based FOH Events.
When Koroluk applied to register the event on Connect via Omega Delta Phi in July, it led to a meeting with over 15 university officials to explain the nature of the event. Koroluk said lawyers and members of the risk management team were on the call.
“[The officials] were like, ‘We need more information with this business, because there’s a bunch of organizations involved,’” Koroluk said. “Moonlight Ark Production provides the movie, FOH Events provides the stage and TAV provides some of the funding.”
But Koroluk and Rivera eventually convinced the university of the student-centered nature of it by explaining that each leading organization had a significant connection to Baylor and its students.
“The companies are external companies,” Koroluk said. “But the companies are started by students. Moonlight Ark Production is Aaron, and TAV is run by Baylor students. It looks like there are a bunch of external parties, but they’re all tied with Baylor University.”
Koroluk also said that despite working with other organizations, the idea that Omega Delta Phi is not the lead organization for A Night Under the Stars is “completely away from the truth.”
Due to potential liabilities with FOH Events, Omega Delta Phi’s members are unable to set up the actual equipment. But almost everything else they are doing themselves.
“We can’t help with the equipment, but we can help facilitate,” Koroluk said. “All of that [work] is [Omega Delta Phi] members.”
Koroluk cited social media marketing, the selection of the contestants and the packing of gift bags for contestants as actions taken by Omega Delta Phi to help facilitate the event.
Ultimately, the funding request was partially approved. Student government provided $17,500 for A Night Under the Stars and agreed that the event meets student government’s funding requirements.
“A Night Under the Stars offers students a unique way to engage in community, and the Senate believed it met the SGAF’s purpose of promoting a vibrant, inclusive and mission-aligned student experience,” Graves said.
Looking ahead, Koroluk hopes to see A Night Under the Stars become a “signature event” for the fraternity, similar to Phi Gamma Delta’s Fright Night, or Alpha Phi’s Woofstock. But as the event continues in future years, Koroluk hopes it will be independently funded.
“We don’t want to rely on student government in the future,” Koroluk said. “I told them to think of this as a one-time investment to make the central event happen, and then later we will have the money or sponsors to get this done.”
