About once a month, the Union Programming Council and other student groups gather to host a party in the Union from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. with every U student being invited and allowed to bring one guest. Last year, Crimson Nights started off big and kept getting bigger. Besides social interaction, these bashes also feature party games like inflated sumo wrestling suits, electric bulls, movies, food and games. The council did a wonderful job organizing the events, publicizing and carrying them out last year.

Often activities organized to enhance the U’s sense of community and overcome the “commuter campus” stigma are dismal and expensive failures.Crimson Nights finished out the previous year by proving that large campus-wide parties were possible and do enhance the college experience and sense of community. Although the planning council’s leadership has changed, there is no reason to believe that this year won’t carry on last year’s torch and continue to get bigger and more successful each time.

But the success of Crimson Nights is not in the hands of the council as much as it is in the hands of every student. The council needs the student body’s participation to make each Crimson Nights exponentially cooler than the last. Just going and being a part of it contributes to the experience as a whole. It is important to remember that Crimson Nights doesn’t necessarily exist to entertain students, it exists to provide students with the opportunity to entertain themselves.

It provides the opportunity to leave comfort zones in the suburbs and meet new people and to become part of the populace that is the U. And the more people attend, the better they’ll get. It also provides the opportunity to try new sports. Controversial mud wrestling debuted toward the end of last year and this year opens with glow-in-the-dark dodgeball.

Besides these, there are dozens of exciting activities that make attending worth the loss of $10 from work or the 20 pages read for psychology class. The great part of helping to build a sense of community is that community, in turn, builds and benefits you.