The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Hannah Reel reporter
PSU students looking for a night of fun, food, and friendly competition were treated to all of that and more at a university-sponsored event entitled “Nacho Average Game Night.”
Nacho Average Game Night was hosted by the Pitt State Campus Activities Center (CAC) and Library Services on Friday, Aug. 20, from 7-8 p.m. in the U-Club of the Overman Student Center. Approximately 50 students were in attendance.
“The goal for this year is to be energized and connected with each other,” said Mary Mercer, Program Coordinator for the CAC. “Our job is to build community on campus. Hopefully now that some of the boundaries are slowly dwindling, we can even do a better job at that and getting students back in person to events. We encourage students to just show up to any event they have interest in. We want people on campus to get connected to clubs and organizations. It’s going to help them build community, feel like they belong, gain skills, foster their interests, and give them a break from their busy lives. Going to an event can be just as simple as logging on with your PSU credential to Gorilla Engage and see what is there. Going to an event can take a short amount of time, but it can have a substantial impact on your life,”
Campus Activities began to coordinate trivia nights with Library Services in 2020. Many other organizations on campus, such as the Gorilla Activities Board, have worked with Library Services over the past few years. The CAC decided it was time to take the opportunity as well. Library Services came up with the questions for the trivia night while Campus Activities co-facilitated the rest of the event.
“This event came about last year, when we did virtual trivia throughout the year between Axe Library and Campus Activities,” said Ruth Monnier, learning outreach librarian and assistant professor at the Axe Library. “[“Nacho Average Trivia Night”] was a continuation of the partnership.”
The CAC understands that it is best for students to begin the academic year with events during the opening week of school. This allows for the CAC to see opening gaps in student involvement and start closing these gaps earlier in the year. Many events hosted by the CAC come from coordination through other events on campus or events seen by other institutions around the area to get students interested.
“Campus Activities does a small amount of coordinating that we actually facilitate,” Mercer said. “We have truly learned over the past year with Covid-19 that trivia has become somewhat of a staple event and students seem to just love it! Our virtual trivia series last year went so well despite it being a virtual event. I think students truly had fun. They were able to walk away with food, and some walked away with money.”
The trivia night was broken down into five categories: information about Pittsburg State University, the Olympics, events told in the news, “Throwing it Back to the Early 2000’s”, and “Trail Mix Little Bit of Everything.” A nacho bar was served at the end of the event with prizes for the winners. These prizes were ranked from first to third place with a random drawing for an Amazon Firestick. The students who ranked first, second, and third place received 150, 125, and 100 dollars respectively. First place was won by Rylee D. Second place was won by Neal Z. Third place was won by Bekah S.
“It is lovely to finally be back in person and see our students’ faces rather than virtually; however, we will have trivia nights via Zoom,” Monnier said. “We understand that tons of our campus community are still at a distance or [that Zoom] might work better for their lives. Our events can be found on the Corq app and Gorilla Engage.”
The next CAC and Library Services sponsored trivia event, “Virtual Trivia Night: Fun Facts—True or False,” will be held on Friday, September 17 from 7-8 p.m. via Zoom.