Happy Hour on Thursday nights doesn’t always have to be a stereotypical college night out. Did you know that Pace’s Programming Board hosts their own version of Happy Hour on Thursday nights?

The objective of the event is for students to eat dinner while enjoying some type of entertainment, according to Vice President of Programming, Amber Borrero. 

The entertainers range from comedians, to spoken word artists, and even our own Setters such as Senior Director of Dining Services Kevin Henriquez, who taught students how to make coconut shrimp last week. Yum!

Sure, the events might not be flooded with big name artists and entertainers, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?

Personally, lowkey events at Pace sound way more enjoyable and relaxed than when the university decides to go all out. I’ve been to the homecoming concert where mainstream artists have performed and it’s not all that. It’s actually a hot mess.

Of course in the end, that’s my humble opinion. Students crave more, however, which is why some have criticized the Happy Hour events as “mediocre” and questioned why “Pace” doesn’t invite more popular entertainers on a regular basis.

Without doing any in-depth investigations and research, we all know it boils down to budgets.

“I would love to bring more known artists to our campus but it is also more expensive,” Borrero said. “If we spend all of our budget on a big concert at Pleasantville, then unfortunately it won’t allow Programming Board to host other events throughout the year.”

As someone that has been on the other side and hosted events on campus before, I completely empathize with the notion of wanting to do more on campus but not having the necessary resources to execute everything.

It’s not that no effort is being put into these events, programming members actually attend a conference (Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities) every semester to help them narrow down ideas.

Campus organizing and event planning are stressful extracurriculars, but they also come with so much reward such as knowing that you actually made an effort to better the college experience for yourself and others.

Instead of just critiquing everything, you moved forward with your ideas and made the most out of what you were given to work with. 

“I am open to any ideas that students may have on who to bring to campus. If students can give me the name of the artist and what their budget is, I can see if we can work with what we have,” Borrero said. “I always say this isn’t just my campus but it’s our campus so I always encourage students to not be afraid to talk to me about any new ideas.” 

Of course there’s always room to do more. Who doesn’t enjoy grand or fun events? They’re great de-stressors!

But let’s also remember that this is an academic institution in the end, and although budgets are split and set, any extra money or resources should probably go towards enhancing the educational experience. So we can earn those degrees, get a job to feed our passions, and earn checks, hella checks – because as you’ve noticed in my piece, money makes the world go ’round.