Jameson Filston, Campus Carrier Arts & Living Editor

PHOT COURTESY OF RUSSELL MADDREY

Dana and Thomas Berry RAs pose with a picture of Martha Berry at the Dana Late Night on Saturday. The theme for the event was “80° Below.”

The 80s-Ski-Lodge-themed Dana Late Night was “snow” much fun for students, but required a lot of work to pull off.

Late Nights can usually be counted on for good food, good music and a simple way to have a good time. However, these events don’t organize themselves.

The resident assistants of each hall are in charge of planning, and several committees work together to make sure that the event fits together seamlessly and is a fun experience for students.

Zachary McConnell, a junior and member of the logistics committee, said that there isn’t a strict model of what a Late Night should look like, so the committees have a lot of decisions to make. McConnell said that coming up with ideas was largely a group task, and the committees would throw out ideas while sitting together. 

Eventually they all voted on large ideas such as the theme, while committees made decisions on the details in their area of specialization.

Planning is not easy, according to Nicholas Kaare. Since the Dana Late Night was the first of the semester, it was a bit of a time crunch. Kaare, a junior and a member of the food committee, said that the hardest part of his job was going to the stores to check prices and figuring out if their budget could handle the food. However, Kaare has done a Late Night before, so he was prepared for the crunch.

“I had already been through the fire,” Kaare said.

Izabella Fornuto, a junior and member of the logistics committee, was also in a hot seat. Fornuto was tasked with hiring musical entertainment for the Dana Late Night, but ran into difficulties of her own. With the allotted funds, they were unable to hire an outside band or DJ, so a student stepped in to handle the music for the event.

The planning experience was an opportunity to get exposed to skills and perspectives that the planners otherwise might not get to develop. McConnell realized how much teamwork is required for an event to pan out. 

“I learned to have a lot more respect for my team members,” McConnell said, “I got to see their hard work and learn more about their characters.”

Fornuto said she enjoyed talking to people off campus. This was the most difficult part of her job, but the part she enjoyed most. Working around others’ schedules was challenging, but she found it both challenging and rewarding to interact with professionals outside the “Berry bubble.”

Fornuto also thought that working as a team was a big growing experience, especially since she has planned a Late Night before. 

She had to make sure that she was showing other RAs the ropes without doing it all herself.

“You have to make sure you are sharing the work,” Fornuto said.

Teamwork influenced how work got done, but deadlines were a huge motivator. Since they only had a few weeks to plan, many decisions were made by what they could get done with the time that they had.  However, the event itself was worth the hassle to Kaare.

“Actually being at the Late Night and getting through it is my favorite part,” Kaare  said, “The rest is just a means to an end.”