It starts with orientation. It’s your first actual campus event as admitted students of the U. It can be scary and a bit of a shift and it can potentially turn people off the idea of attending future campus events or getting involved in them. This piece is here to put you at ease. Yes, there are lots of events that happen on campus throughout the year, but they’re not as threatening as orientation can be and they’re worth going to.
Every day, you can find some club doing something at some building. There might be some late night event going on at the Peterson Heritage Center, some quirky themed event in the Union or a fair or expo in front of the library. Most of these campus events that you might run across are run by students and are there for students. They’re worth at least walking through — there might be free swag items or information that you didn’t know you needed until you saw it there.
Some of these events are much larger in scale than the others and prove to be must-sees for students who are attending the University of Utah for the first time. ASUU hosts a free annual concert called Redfest and last year’s headliner was Migos with Amine opening. The Union Programming Council hosts a late-night party at the Union called Crimson Nights four times a year and it’s the biggest campus event in the state of Utah. There’s a Wellness Fair at the Student Life Center that provides free medical services for students like STD testing and vaccinations. These are events that students should attend at least once to get the full university experience.
You can also find posters around campus for smaller events such as lectures, themed parties, organized protests, meet-and-greets and more. These events are also worth marking on your calendar and making the effort to attend, especially if the theme of the event is in tune with your interests. Even if it isn’t, it can be worth it to stop by anyway. The majority of these events provide some free swag or food to visitors. The students and faculty who organize these events are happy for anybody to come and stop by, even if it is just for the food. Plus, free food is always better than having to wait in line and pay for something, especially when you’re a broke college kid who can’t afford to eat out for lunch.
These campus events happen almost every day and they’re here for you to take advantage of. Be sure to learn about all of the events that are being promoted at orientation and mark your calendar for some of them. You might be pleasantly surprised to find out that a lot of them can be pretty fun and worth stopping by for five minutes. If you’re interested in event programming, there are plenty of organizations on campus that allow students to participate in the event planning process. Be sure to take the time to learn more about ASUU, the Residence Hall Association, the Union Programming Council, the Bennion Center and other similar organizations that allow you to get active on campus.
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