Doors opened on “Bingo After Dark” once again as an unofficial tradition that has been held every year for the past seven years.
“I served on the Activities team two years ago,” said Ashlynn Stokes, the vice president of activities for the Weber State University Student Association, “and I just remember it being a huge hit. So many people came. There was a diverse group of people. So it was some people that we had never seen at events before. And I think it just brings a lot of community.”
Stokes talked more about what the WSUSA is trying to achieve with this event and many of their other events. “I want people to make friends, and I want them to find friends that will last a lifetime. And Bingo is just a great event where people can make friends and have competition,” Stokes said.
The WSUSA activities team wants students to come out to these events to make friends and make memories, and they feel that bingo night has allowed many students to find friendships and community through something like bingo.
There were plenty of students in attendance that had something to say about the event and how they heard about it as well. Some of the students were excited for the different prizes that the WSUSA activities team were able to procure.
Quincy Rozsa, a current Weber State University student in attendance at the event said “I really want a Nintendo switch because I want to play Smash Bros … I didn’t think a lot of people would come, so it’s going to be kind of harder to win. I might have to start a riot.”
While full of energy, Rozsa found out about the chances to win from a friend and fellow student, Tinsley Smith.
“I saw a poster hanging on the wall, and I said, ‘That looks cool,’ so I sent a picture to a 20-person group chat and I said ‘Guys, we need to win something,’” Smith said.
Like Rozsa and Smith, other students in attendance were talking about the prizes that were put together and decided upon by Saman Chapagaim, the social engagement events chair, who said, “For the Switch 2, it was the biggest thing in 2025. So why not? And for the rest of the prizes, it’s themed, so we have a beach theme. So we have a paddle board, neckband, beach tent, beach chairs, and stuff like that.”
All funding for the event was through the budget that was allocated to the activities team that paid for the prizes given out.
After the event, Daisy Hall, a film student at Weber State said, “It was really fun. I had a good time. I met new people. I made new friends. I definitely had some stressful moments hoping for the prizes.”
While there were plenty of students in attendance, only a certain number of them were able to win prizes, but it seems that students looking for another chance will get it soon. The WSUSA activities team will be doing more of these in the future making this an unofficial tradition for students to attend.
“I definitely think these fun high-prize events are really fun for students, especially poor college students, being able just to get out and have a fun time and maybe win something cool,” Hall said.
