(Photo courtesy of: ACE) ” UMass Lowell Students pillow fighting in the inflatable ring.”

Nate Coady
Connector Editor

Last Tuesday, January 23, the Association for Campus Events (ACE) hosted a pajama party, their first event of the semester at UCrossing from 6p.m. to 8p.m., which featured crafts like making dreamcatchers and stuffed animals as well as guided painting. There was karaoke and even an inflatable pillow fighting ring. UMass Lowell Acapella groups, the Hawkettes and Hawkapella, were also in attendance.

Students will remember a similar event from last year, Home Away From Home. ACE Event Coordinator and Junior Sameera Jangala says, “We made it a bit bigger, reinvented it.” Moloney Hall transformed into a big slumber party on Tuesday night. Along with the arts and crafts, there was hot chocolate and the movie “Pitch Perfect” was playing up on the big screen.

“I feel like it’s just such a sleepover movie. When they told me that I could choose any movie, I was like, this is the one. It’s also my favorite movie,” said Jangala. The Hawkettes and Hawkappella, who both performed at the pajama party will both attend the ICCAs in February, the same acapella competition in “Pitch Perfect.”

Of the arts and crafts available, the most popular was the stuffed animals, evident by the fact that there was no more stuffing to stuff the animals by the end of the night. Students made their own panda, moose, cow or bulldog to take home. Those who chose to paint instead enjoyed the assistance of a guide. She brought paints for canvases and paint pens for painting pint glasses.

The pillow fighting ring undoubtedly got students’ hearts racing. There was an inflatable ring that students could enter and bash each other with pillows in true pajama party fashion. However, there were huge, cushioned boxing gloves that quickly became the popular choice. The soft pink pillows were left untouched for a while as students climbed into the ring and started swinging at each other.

Another crucial part of a good pajama party is obviously karaoke, which ACE delivered. “That, I was scared of, because I feel like people don’t actually go up there,” says Jangala. But that was nothing to worry about, because once the party got going, she said, “I’ve had multiple repeat performances.” The karaoke kept going through the night with some students even staying to sing after the event had ended and was cleaned up. It isn’t a true pajama party without staying up past bedtime.

“I did some glass painting, I watched some karaoke, and I watched some boxing… It was really fun, I’d go again… I wore sweatpants. These are my PJs,” says junior Kaylee Estevao. Lucky for ACE, most college students wear what would be considered pajamas already during the day, so no one had a problem showing up to UCrossing in the appropriate attire.

ACE will be hosting a Valentine’s event in the near future. They are also planning a trip to Level 99 in Natick and a trip to New York City for this semester. Students can also look forward to the regular ACE events that everyone loves like Big Prize Bingo and the Spring Carnival. Stay up to date on their events at @umlace on Instagram!