Starting the new semester with a bang, University Programming Activities Committee (UPAC) is hosting the biggest late-night programming event Winona State University has seen in years.

George Micalone, director of Student Union, and indirect advisor to UPAC, stated that in the past, there was an attempt to have a late-night programing activity, but it was just not well received.

UPAC is hosting, ‘Kryzsko After Dark’, a takeover of Kryzsko Commons that includes indoor ice skating, a Nerf fight, Karaoke, live performances, free Panda Express, DIY crafts, giveaways and more.

“Essentially, the idea is to try to get as many activities that complement each other together at the same time,” Micalone said.

Myah Anderson, a junior elementary education major, is the assistant director of UPAC. Anderson said everything is free, and there are going to be many prizes.

“We’re taking over the whole building on Friday night, and it’s going to be on the last Friday of every month,” Anderson said. “So, January, February and March this year, we’re taking over the building, and having activities, food, games and all kinds of fun things to do through the whole building.”

UPAC has been working on making ‘Kryzsko After Dark’ come alive since September in hopes that the students at Winona State can have a place to hang out and have a good time on their campus.

Lindsay Marosi-Kramer, assistant director of Student Activities for Greek Life & Leadership and also an indirect advisor to UPAC for the last three years, has been working with UPAC to make the event happen.

“Last year the Student Union and activities did a survey and some of the data really said that students wanted more opportunities to be engaged on campus and have more things readily available to them here in the Student Union,” Marosi-Kramer said.

Marosi-Kramer said that, according to the survey, students at Winona State wanted events that provided opportunities to leave their rooms, but did not involve going downtown.

“We really took that to heart, so I think when we shared some of that information with UPAC, they decided it was worth trying again so, that’s kind of where it started,” Marosi-Kramer said.

According to Micalone, UPAC seemed to be the perfect vessel to bring this grand event to life and bring some positive energy to late night programs.

“They had the resources, people power, momentum and the want and desire to do something cool and unique for the campus that it got a lot of momentum and took off to start the spring,” Micalone said.

Many late-night programs are made with the intent to give students a place to have fun on the weekends that does not involve the consumption of substances. Anderson spoke on UPAC’s hope to give students an opportunity to have fun on the weekends away from drinking.

“Like a lot of events, we do have that purpose of getting students to do something other than go out on Fridays, and Saturdays and weekends,” Anderson said. “We wanted to try something that was more late at night because a lot of our events are at seven.  We thought that it would be more fun to do some late at night, and something that’s a much larger scale.”

Audrey Lassegard, a sophomore marketing major, is the public relations print director of UPAC also touched on the subject.

“I think it’s just nice to have an alternate option, you know, just for something different. This is also something else really fun and there’s lots of different things for different interests that people can do,” Lassegard said.

Knowing that each student has different interests and schedules, UPAC representatives said they wanted to create an event that has something for everyone.

“I think that that approach is essentially what they were going for where they could get lots of different things to meet different interests of folks and try to get people to stick around as long as they can,” Micalone said.

UPAC said they are hoping for a big turnout by reaching out to students all across campus by including a ton of activities, food and fun.

“There’s going be something to do if you’re on your own and want to try to meet people, or something to do if you’re coming in a group. Regardless of why you’re coming or who you’re coming with, give it a try for five minutes,” Micalone said.

Marosi-Kramer added, “I don’t think you’re going to want to leave, it’s going be a really fun event.”

UPAC’s Kryzsko After Dark will take place throughout Kryzsko Commons on Jan. 31 from 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

*All opinions expressed are of the Winonan staff. They do not necessarily reflect those of the college, university, system, or student body.*