New UBG board holds inaugural event
The Union Board of Governors held its first pop-up event on Sept. 12 on the Commons patio where participants painted rocks and listened to pop music.
From 6:30 p.m. to nearly 8:30 p.m., students headed to the Commons for dinner and would spot a table with UBG members and rock-painting equipment. Some students detoured from their plan to eat, got in line, chose a rock and began painting.
UBG purchased roughly 200 landscaping rocks from Menards to supply the event, along with an array of craft paint and brushes.
Event attendees gathered around picnic tables outside the Commons to sit with friends and design their rocks. As more people showed up to paint, some secured a spot on the concrete.
By the end of the night, UBG had collected a graveyard of creations that participants had painted but not taken home. UBG plans to disperse these rocks around campus.
One participant painted a landscape scene with a peaceful-looking sky. Another created a bird that other attendees nicknamed “Baby Dory.”
“I feel that it was a great event for the beginning of the year since it’s a low-energy event that contrasts with the high-energy stress that often comes with the beginning of the year,” Norah Grace DeBoer, a junior head governor of UBG, said.
Sophomore Elly Mulhair, a co-governor of the UBG Pop-Up Board, said the style of event is new to UBG.
While UBG typically advertises events on campus a month in advance, they do not inform students of pop-up events until the day of.
“They truly ‘pop up’ out of nowhere and you have to be following the instagram page to see,” Mulhair said. “It’s really a way to see how active our follower base is.”
UBG currently includes nine boards: coffeehouse, culture, dance, entertainment, film, head governors, logistics, marketing and now pop-up. The boards all work to put on different types of events.
According to DeBoer, UBG hopes the pop-up events will draw more people to the group’s social media, as it is the only place where students will hear about the upcoming event.
DeBoer said the UBG Pop-Up board blends the group’s marketing and events efforts. With the majority of UBG’s events occurring during the weekend, governors wanted to offer a surprise event during the week.
Sophomore Sydney Rogers, also a co-governor of the UBG Pop-Up Board, said the spontaneous style of the events allows for more students to attend UBG activities.
“We’re a brand new board, but our hope is that students will be able to enjoy more ‘take-and-make’ and short-term activities so that we can bring UBG to those who cannot attend our Friday night events,” Rogers said.
According to the co-governors, the event turned out well, with over 100 people attending.
Freshmen Kate Hennen and Jace Champlin both participated in the rock painting event.
Both Hennen and Champlin saw the event advertised on Instagram and decided to check it out later that evening.
Champlin said he “wanted to get out of his dorm and do something fun.”
The evening’s relaxed environment was Hennen’s favorite part of the event.
Champlin said he enjoyed meeting new people throughout the night of rock painting.
Hennen and Champlin said they look forward to attending another pop-up event in the future.
“The Pop-Up Board is beneficial to students’ Augie experiences because it not only allows students to engage with UBG, but it’s a pretty low-stakes way to have fun too,” DeBoer said.
