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Students earn ‘money’ for staying sober
Friday Knight Dry offers students an alternative to drinking

By Christina McClay
Staff Writer

Friday, March 28, Residence Life and clubs ran Friday Knight
Dry, an evening of activities on campus as an alternate to
drinking.

For the first time in five years, Friday Knight Dry was brought to campus and this year Jeff Vincent, associate director of Residence Life, worked with groups to put on an alcohol-free evening.

Groups provided activities for Friday Knight Dry, Vincent said. All resident assistants and resident directors were asked to help. Groups and clubs that helped out included the Founders Society, the Diversity Coalition, and the French Club. Health services and Security officers helped, also.

Students were given multicolored paper money for participating in activities throughout the night, Vincent said. At midnight, an auction began in the Alliot Student Center where students could bid on prizes with their money, he said.

“There’s going to be a real life auctioneer and $2000 worth of prizes,” Vincent said.

There were about 50 prizes to be auctioned off, Lou Dimasi, director of Residence Life said. These included Vera Bradley purses, a chocolate fondue set, iPods and movie packs.

"It’s almost like a carnival of activities, and that’s the concept that says ‘hey be dry and come have fun’,” Dimasi said.

Residence Life members served pizza and snacks in the Green Mountain Dining Hall from 10 p.m. until the end of the evening.

The idea was to provide students with a different social feeling on a Friday night and meet new people, Vincent said.

Photo by Roni Reino Mariah Dukeshire cuts pies in half for a pie eating contest in Cashman Hall on Friday, March 28.

"We have a lot of people helping out so we wanted to do it big this year so its fun and people will remember it for next year and maybe it becomes a tradition again,” Vincent said. “All of those organizations are funding it and prize money came from Res Life and the alcohol task force,” Vincent said. There were about 30 programs offered in residential halls, Vincent said. In the Alumni Hall basement, students could enjoy a late night breakfast of pancakes and bacon while listening to performances at Turtle Underground. “There were many bands featured there, like Tom Cadrin and a band called Entropy,” Alumni Hall R.A. Colby Salerno said. Between scheduled performances, students could partake in an open mic and rock out, he said. First-year Eliza Giroux participated in the hallway bowling, shaving cream slip and slide and tie-dying in Lyons Hall, she said. She also did roommate trivia in Ryan Hall. “My friends and I are pooling our money together to have a large amount for the auction,” she said.

Senior Owen Glubiak said that he was surprised by the actual turn out of the night. He said there was jeopardy in Canterbury Hall’s great room and it was fun to have something to do.

The night ended with a shower of paper money thrown from the second level of the Alliot Student Center into the foyer for students to collect more cash before the auction started.

“It’s part of our responsibility to give people options, and fun things to do beyond drinking,” said Moise St. Louis, director of Multicultural Student Affairs. “There are many kids on campus that don’t do that, so it’s good that we give them alternatives.”

Photo by Mike Connors
Sophomore Lauren Levy (from left), junior Lesley
Restuccia and first-year Sarah Manty try hula hooping
in the Alliot Student Center for monopoly money
during Friday Knight Dry.

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