The Shepherd Union Building has a new place for students to socialize.

Students and community members celebrated the official grand opening of Waldo’s Corner Pocket Wednesday night.

“One of the main goals is we want to provide students with evening activities,” said Molly Ward, the director of the Shepard Union Building.

Waldo’s Corner Pocket is a lounge next to Wildcat Lanes. The staff gave away gifts at the opening, including three mini-fridges. Some visitors played billiards and went bowling for free as a local cover band, Trevor and Kyle, played contemporary acoustic music.

Tyler (last name withheld), sophomore, has been playing billiards at WSU for a few years. “I like it here,” he said. “I think Waldo’s Corner Pocket might get more people in here, which I’d like.”

Dylan Totaro, senior, who helped promote the event, agrees.

“The more the merrier,” Totaro said. “The more people here the better it gets.” At the time the reporter was present, about 60 people were attending.

Brooklyn Knight, junior, is the Special Event Coordinator for WSU’s Activity Committee. She organized many aspects of the grand opening, including a trivia game and Pokémon Go collaboration.

“I had members of my team go to popular spots on campus to invite Pokémon Go players to come to the event,” Knight said.

Mercedes Rossiter, freshman, and Emily Russen, junior, were some of those players-turned-partiers.

“We saw the flyer for the opening when we were playing and decided to join the fun,” Russen said.

Rossiter and Russen both live on campus together and have been friends since high school in Wichita, Kansas.

Waldo’s Corner Pocket is for everyone, but special consideration was given to involve students that live on campus, according to Ward.

“We’ve been on a lot of adventures together. Usually Mercedes dragging me along,” Russen said with a smile.

“This place is going to be great because now we have more activities to do,” Rossiter said.

The roommates mentioned that they are fans of the food and drinks. All menu items are under $5, a great deal compared to other on-campus food locations, according to Totaro.

“One of the difficult things is students just come to school and then leave. We want them to stay for a while,” Totaro said.

Rossiter and Russen said that they plan on coming back.

“We really like activities where we can meet more people and this seems like a good place for that,” Rossiter said.

Waldo’s Corner Pocket plans on having an activity one Wednesday every month this semester, according to Knight.

Waldo’s Corner Pocket will now be open Monday-Friday 5:00-9:00 p.m.

“This place is for the students,” Totaro said. “We hope people come and see that this is a great place to hang out and have fun.”