At some college campuses, Students prefer in-house entertainment

West Virginia University freshman Ruben Sintel says he spends his Friday and Saturday nights at his school’s student union, the Mountainlair.  “I’m a regular. I like the place,” he said. And he says he’s not the only one. “A lot of people go often, I usually see the same people there,” he said.

What draws them there isn’t surfing the Web in the computer lab, studying in the lounges or an unnatural group affinity for tiled floors and institutional wallpaper. It’s the Velcro climbing walls, alcohol, free food and other party-esque offerings at the weekend WVU-sponsored on-campus club, “Up All Night.”

WVU and some other schools have essentially entered the nightclub business. Motivated by student boredom and drinking, these schools have taken the on-campus concert and bar idea a step further.

“I think other schools recognize that if they’re a resident campus they have to provide this for students or the students will say, ‘Hey don’t yell at us about drinking,’” said John Harlow, coordinator of HUB Late Night at Penn State, which the school created in 1996.

The events at on-campus clubs move beyond dancing and (in some cases) drinking. WVU turns its union into an entertainment-plex, hosting simulated sumo wrestling, movies, a make-your-own video stage, alcohol for those over 21 and free food, among other attractions. HUB Late Nighters take part in such activities as casinos, holiday parties, ballroom dance lessons, movies, concerts, dance, magic shows and comedy shows. The events last from about 10 p.m. to 1 or 2 a.m. on weekend nights. WVU’s Up All Night is open on Thursdays also, from 9 p.m. to midnight.

“Variety is the bottom line,” Harlow said. “It’s important to keep that variety.”

Low-cost entertainment for students means high-cost programs for the schools. Everything at WVU’s Up All Night is free to the students except beer, bowling and billiards, at a cost to the school of about $8,000 per weekend, said Mary Collins, assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs at WVU. And Penn State’s HUB Late Nights budget is about $125,000 per year, Harlow said.

Enough students attend the club programs to justify the effort and dollars put into the clubs. Collins said WVU’s Up All Night, which has been in existence since fall 1998, sees an average 4,000 students a night and 1,000 for breakfast. Harlow says HUB Late Nights’ attendance has steadily increased each semester.

Harlow said Penn State’s upper administration is very happy with HUB Late Nights’ success. “As far as job security, I won’t have anything to worry about for 100 years,” he said. “The University has worked so hard to build this initiative and it’s something that won’t be retracted.”

WVU works at determining what Up All Nighters want. The school has even set up a telephone “Idealine” for them. “We talked to students about what would make them come back,” Collins said. “Over and over we heard free food.” The midnight breakfast (free to students) was so popular, students started bringing friends, so WVU now charges $3.00 for guests, she said. HUB Late Nights doesn’t serve food.

Alcohol was also a popular draw at WVU’s Up All Night. Collins said students said they were “tired of beer-soaked clothes in the basement” at house parties. The school views serving alcohol as a way to help the students can model responsible drinking. “The students say they know they can’t get drunk and you have to be 21,” Collins said.

But it’s simple for underage students to sneak alcohol, Saintel said. “If you’re my friend and you’re not 21 yet, but I am, I would show my ID, get the alcohol, then bring it to you,” he said.

Penn State avoids this issue altogether; the school has a dry campus and HUB Late Nights is no exception. “We’re not sure if we’re having any effect on the drinking behaviors of Penn State students,” Harlow said. “Maybe we are in a small way, maybe not. We’re at least providing a place for students who have no intention to drink in the first place.”

Even though these student unions get dressed up for the weekends, they’re still student unions: who else but freshman would spend a Saturday night at the union? Collins said all classes, including the graduate level, are equally represented, each making up about 20 percent of the population. Saintel agrees. “All the grades go there…it’s not cheesy, you’re always looking forward to it.”

But some students aren’t interested. WVU student Liz Dougherty said even if she didn’t work on weekends, she wouldn’t go to Up All Night. “I’d rather go to a club,” she said. Just for the music and the dancing.” She said she doesn’t know much about Up All Night, either. “Not too many of my friends have every really talked about it. I guess I think people go there if the club thing isn’t for them, the drinking thing isn’t for them,” she said.

Jenn Johnson, a freshman liberal arts student at Penn State, has heard of HUB Late Nights, but never gone. “I’m just going out other places…usually to a friend’s place to party, something like that.” She says they hang out and occasionally drink.

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