As part of this year’s Homecoming Week festivities, Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) and The Mighty Utah Student Section (MUSS) are holding a Crimson Rally and Movie Night on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. on the field inside Rice Eccles Stadium.
After games and an opportunity to hear U football coach Kyle Whittingham speak, ASUU will show the film “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” Those who bring donations for the relief of recent hurricane victims will qualify to win front row seats at a football game, according to Michelle Bui, the films chair on ASUU’s Campus Events Board.
The idea for a movie night was conceived during the past ASUU election. The current administration’s party platform states:“We hope to unite the student body by revitalizing our campus’s events, fostering a sense of safety and security in our community, and facilitating student involvement by publicizing opportunities to get involved and developing relationships with student organizations.” The football stadium movie showing is one of the ways the party discussed uniting the student body.
The Homecoming Week movie night is the combination of three separate events. ASUU originally planned a movie screening prior to the Crimson Rally, which is a pep rally with the football team and marching band, prior to the Homecoming football game. Crimson Rally typically follows the Greek Songfest on the lawn outside the Union. The MUSS Board was also considering its own movie screening. Plans for these separate events were scrapped in favor of one, much larger movie event.
Bui said many of the details are still in planning stages, but she wants students to know that the event will be much bigger than just a movie screening.
“It is essentially a huge pep rally and will give the students many fun opportunities,” she said.
According to Bui, ASUU has long supported movie nights on campus, including a monthly series of screenings in the Union Theatre. This particular movie showing is part of a method to encourage student involvement.
“We believe in campus events that truly get the students excited,” Bui said. “We believe that a movie night at Rice-Eccles Stadium will bring the community together and unite the student body.”
Homecoming Week is celebrated as a way to both get excited for the week’s big football game and as a way to remember the history of the U. This year’s theme is “Show Your Stripes.” The week will begin with a community service day on Sept. 30, and it will come to close on Oct. 8.
Notable events include the yearly Scholarship 5K to raise money for scholarship funds, two women’s soccer games and the annual tailgate before Saturday’s football game against Stanford.
@EliseAbril
