Student Planning and Campus Engagement, or SPACE, held its landing party in Red River Hall April 28.
The party’s creative concept, a bingo rave has been in the works since the beginning of the spring semester. “We pitched this idea back in February. … We’ve been working on it for two months or so,” said Marcus Miranda, the SPACE commander at Richland Campus. He said the idea was “to introduce people who never really got to experience the night life but still wanted to experience… a safe environment where they can interact with other individuals, classmates and colleagues while having some fun and winning some prizes.”
Four bingo rounds were held during the event. Multiple tables were set up for the participants, and bingo cards and chips were supplied. SPACE commanders and other members hosted the event, announcing the numbers projected on the screen.
After the first two rounds, it was intermission time. The hosts called for volunteers up front for a lip-sync battle, performing to classic pop songs such as “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga and “Toxic” by Britney Spears. Richland student Nnee Mcsam Mcdimieri won by a landslide, judged by how loudly the crowd cheered. Given a bouquet of gifts upon his victory, Mcdimieri said he had a strategy going into the game.
“Honestly, what I saw was the box of costumes and I believe what you wear is what you perform. I’ve watched a lot of TV shows and I’ve seen how they perform.”
He named “The Greatest Showman” as one of his inspirations.
Following the third round, a dance battle was held between two teams. A special guest, Space Jam, an alien mascot character, took the stage, acting both as a participant and judge. Space Jam hopped over to the “dark side” – in reference to “Star Wars” and that team won the battle. The participants received party favors and gifts.
Out of the four battles, Christopher Shelley won three times (much to the dismay of some participants). A former SPACE commander, Shelley could not help with the planning with this event. He did help plan another event, the disco at Eastfield. This was in reference to SPACE’s launch party last November. He had no game plan for bingo rounds, “I just got lucky, but I just think it’s the old age. You know, like old people just win bingo all the time.”
When asked if SPACE would have events like this in the future, Jonathan White, founder and adviser for the Richland SPACE team, said, “It really depends on the board and the main thing about the SPACE program that it really is for students by students. So, the students come up with the events, how they want them to be.”
For more information on future SPACE events or how to join SPACE, contact White at the Office of Student Life and Engagement or email him at [email protected].
