UAC considers $2 movie nights twice a month

Draven Jackson

Staff Writer

The University Activities Council recently announced an effort to return to hosting movie nights for students twice a month.

Starting in late April, a $2 movie night is going to be tested.

“If we have a $2 movie night, students will still only have to pay a small amount, but it will cut down on how much the UAC has to pay,” said Amy Russo, a junior broadcast journalism major from Pace, Florida, and president of the UAC.

Prior to this academic year, however, UAC hosted two $1 movie nights per month and gained considerable popularity among students. It became one of the highest-attended Troy-sponsored events.

As many Troy students know, presently, the first Wednesday of every month is the night Troy’s UAC and Continental Cinema host their $1 movie night. Russo said the reason for the change was simply funding.

“If you think about it, the students are paying $1 and the UAC is paying $7 or $8,” Russo said. “If we kept that up, then we wouldn’t be able to do as many different events throughout the semester.

“In order to keep something going on every week, we decided to cut one of the movie nights a month.”

Chase Taylor, co-owner of Continental Cinema, said $1 movie nights are great business for the theater.

“Before the UAC started hosting the $1 movie night, we had been asking for a while to be able to do something like it for the students,” Taylor said. “We really appreciate the university and the UAC for partnering with us for this event.”

Taylor said that they are working with the UAC on new ideas, but he hopes to have the second movie night a month back soon.

“Losing the second movie night was certainly a punch to our business, as we’ve grown to depend on them a good bit since we started doing them,” Taylor said. “The movie nights are a big deal, and we are hopeful that we will get back to having two a month.”

Since $1 movie nights have cut back to once a month, attendance has been higher on the single night, causing students to scramble to get their tickets first, or before the kiosk located in downstairs Trojan Center inevitably breaks.

According to Russo, various plans are in the works to make up for the cut.

“The money we save on movie tickets can be used on other really cool activities,” Russo said.

Derrick Brewster, assistant dean of student services, is the faculty adviser for the UAC. He said that the UAC has been considering other fun events to host for the students.

“The board researched events that were held on campus in the past and saw that we could host some events that would still produce a good number of students in attendance, such as Casino Night, Laser Tag, Skate Night, Dodgeball and Bingo,” Brewster said. “All of our events create an opportunity for students to build positive relationships and allow our students to have fun with friends outside of a classroom setting.”

With the expansion of Continental Cinemas occurring, including the addition of a bowling alley, the UAC and the theater also plan to eventually discuss various events for the students that would include the new additions. However, no details or plans have been decided on at this point.

The next $1 movie night event will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 1.