{"id":241192,"date":"2026-02-20T07:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=241192"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T16:40:23","slug":"spotlight-on-uconn-late-night-the-2026-winter-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/02\/spotlight-on-uconn-late-night-the-2026-winter-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Late Night: Weekly Event Brings Students Together"},"content":{"rendered":"

For more than two decades, UConn Late Night has organized free programs and activities in the Student Union every Friday from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. a variety of free activities for students. Part of the Student Activities Major Events and Programs office, Late Night offers interactive activities, food, giveaways, and prizes, typically organized around a central theme, with popcorn, karaoke, and bingo always part of the mix. All events are planned and facilitated by student staff who work to provide a safe and inviting experience for all UConn students looking for something enjoyable to do on Friday nights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent Late Night, themed in honor of the 2026 Winter Olympics, showed how this looks in practice:<\/span><\/p>\n

Snacks were strategically chosen to match the theme. Funyuns – “onion-flavored rings” – represented the five rings of the Olympics logo, and Kinder chocolate bars were given to students, since they are originally from Italy, the country hosting the Winter Games.<\/span> Students <\/span>could choose to decorate their own medal with a variety of stickers and markers, or create “Olympic torches” using <\/span>a mix\u00a0<\/span>of<\/span> construction and tissue paper. Over the course of the night, about 400 students participated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carlait Millien ’29 (ENGR)<\/span> considers himself a Late Night regular, and sings karaoke each time he attends. During the Olympics-themed event, he sang \u201cSuperpowers\u201d by Daniel Caesar. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice vibe, you get to meet new people, make new friends,\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first UConn Late Night was held on Sept. 5, 2003, and has been going strong ever since, with events held every Friday during the academic year, except for the weeks of Thanksgiving and Spring Break. The last program takes place each semester the week before final exams begins.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Two
Students show off paper “torches” in honor of the Winter Olympics (Anna Heqimi \/ UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zohar Rosenberg ’28 (CLAS), a<\/span> student worker at UConn Late Night, <\/span>said the weekly event <\/span>provides an outlet<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for him\u00a0<\/span>to brainstorm various themes.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cIt allows me to be creative,\u201d he\u00a0<\/span>said. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>My favorite part is\u00a0<\/span>interacting<\/span>\u00a0with the student body and\u00a0<\/span>mak<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0conversation with people I\u00a0<\/span>wouldn’t<\/span>\u00a0normally\u00a0<\/span>interact with<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Christina Broady ’27 (CAHNR), has worked at Late Night since her freshman year. She said she used to attend Late Night frequently because she and her friends didn’t have much to do on a Friday night. After seeing a job posting, she decided to apply because she thought the staff looked happy and she enjoys thinking creatively.<\/span><\/p>\n

To Broady, Late Night means \u201cbuilding a community,\u201d and \u201ccreating a safe space.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“You get to meet new people, there\u2019s food, you have crafts and bingo, and you get to connect with the campus,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you are like me and you do not like leaving the room because you are studying or working, you at least have one thing to look forward to. There’s something for everyone.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During Late Night, Chloe Chan ’29 (BUS) made banners with her friends. She said she mainly attends Late Night to catch up with friends while they make crafts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nice way to find some downtime and cool off,\u201d Chan said. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Erin O\u2019Keefe is the program coordinator for Major Events and Programs. She oversees Late Night and said the program offers a \u201csafe space for students to hang out.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bags
Prizes for winning bingo competitors; the game is a staple of UConn Late Night (Anna Heqimi \/ UConn Photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are currently 14 student workers separated into two groups that decide on the week\u2019s theme. The first group chooses the themes for the first and third weeks of the month, while the second group selects the themes for the second and fourth weeks of the month.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019Keefe said it\u2019s \u201cimportant for opinions to be heard, but relatable to the students on campus.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Students can message the UConn Late Night Instagram<\/a> page to voice their interests and make suggestions for activities they would like to see. There is also a physical suggestion box during the program’s check-in where students can share their ideas.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from planning and hosting activities for students, O\u2019Keefe ensures that the majority of supplies purchased and used for Late Night are either compostable, biodegradable, or are able to be repurposed. She said crafts are planned in a way that students can use reuse them as decorations or form a personal connection with their creation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since 2003, the Friday event – featuring games, food, and activities – has been a staple of campus life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":241392,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,2235,2225,2306,2458,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2706],"class_list":["post-241192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-life","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-storrs","category-uconn-voices","category-undergraduates","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 18:42:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241192"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241396,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241192\/revisions\/241396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/241392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241192"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=241192"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=241192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}