UMass Lowell kicked off the new semester with its annual Back to Campus Party at Cumnock Hall on September 16, 2016. The event took place between the hours of 9pm and 1am. For just $3 (and a slightly awkward pat down), students enjoyed a night of music, dancing and mingling with their fellow peers.
The night started off fairly slow, with most people showing up around midnight, but nevertheless, the tasteful music and being surrounded by peers made this event worth attending.
Adam Fasanmade, one of the many students that helped arrange this event, encapsulated what this night was all about. With the perfect amount of enthusiasm and excitement, he said “The Back to Campus party is all about having students get to know each other. Students walk past each other every single day as strangers and this party is meant to change that.” This purpose proved to be successful. Many people were found talking to people they would never approach otherwise.
The DJ was great, playing hits from Lorde and Drake to Caribbean and Reggaeton music. When asked about how he felt about the event, Nate Weidman, a freshman, said “I had a really good time and will probably attend next year!”
Overall, it was a successful night due to the work of the Men Achieving Leadership, Excellence and Success (M.A.L.E.S.) and Kappa Delta Phi NAS Kappa Upsilon Chapter (KY). M.A.L.E.S and KY have worked together on this event every year. This year, M.A.L.E.S took care of most of the logistics of the event while KY shared half of the cost of the event with M.A.L.E.S and provided any help prior to and during the event as needed.
On behalf of KY, it was Julie Pham that ran the lead on the event. She worked with M.A.L.E.S to plan this event down to the smallest details. Volunteers set up tables and chairs before the party while also manning the ticketing tables. Julie said, “Overall, the party was a success and everything ran quite smoothly and KY is very happy with how everything turned out.” Huge applause and big thanks to KY and M.A.L.E.S for their hard work and dedication that made Friday night a bit more fun!
