Campus Thursday nights: With classes still a prevalent factor the next morning, and the weekend looming but not quite making contact yet, students may feel a viable, but maybe not always practical, urge to go out. For those who want to stay on campus, Ducks After Dark has been providing activities for student’s Thursday nights since 2012.
Ducks After Dark is a student organization that plays movies in PLC 180 every Thursday night. Its mission states that the goal is “to provide the University of Oregon student body with activities on campus during late night and weekend hours, creating a healthy, vibrant and rich environment for University of Oregon students.” Ducks After Dark provides that environment with activities starting at 8 p.m., and the movie starting at 9 p.m.
The event is currently held in PLC 180, but when the renovations come to a close, they will be moving the festivities to the new EMU Redwood Auditorium.
UO freshman Alyssa Kelley thinks this is a great opportunity for students who are new to campus to get involved in a circle of friends they might not meet otherwise.
“When you’re a freshman, like that first semester, you don’t really know what happens. You want to take advantage of every opportunity,” Kelley said.
She’s been going since her first week here on campus, and it’s helped her meet more people than her usual dorm crowd. She and her roommate, Erin, even follow the themes.
“On pajama night, she wore footie pajamas and I wore my bathrobe,” Kelley said. “Not a ton of people dressed up, but we didn’t care. It was so much fun.”
Since it’s arrival in 2012, Ducks After Dark has improved in attendance and exposure immensely. Adviser Mandy Chong attributes it to the research they did regarding movie selection. Recently they’ve focused on newer films.
“The team came up with the film line up and put classic films in it,” Chong said. “Then we looked at the data from a couple of years and, consistently, we had lower turnout when showing older films.”
This led to a reallocation in the budget to get licensing for the newest films possible. Ducks After Dark now plays modern features, such as Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur. Of course, there are a couple exceptions to the new-is-better rule.
“We have two reoccurring older films that are exceptions: The Rocky Horror Picture Show and National Lampoon’s Animal House,” Chong said.
Darks After Dark is looking to continue it’s expansion. It is hoping to add more activities in the coming years, possibly even comedians.