Free Movie Night is back, but in a different location.
Earlier this semester, students were asked to start paying $1 for the previously free monthly event. The Campus Programming Board, the group in charge of the movie night, made the change to compensate for cuts in its budget.
Now that Hollywood Studio Theatres, 5996 Westerville Road, has closed, the last movie night of the semester will be shown in the Campus Center lounge with free admission.
The location isn’t the only thing changing. Instead of choosing from a list of the most recent movies, students will be shown one movie that has already been released on DVD. The CPB might also show films before their DVD release that it has gained permission to screen.
The next movie night will be Nov. 15. The CPB will be showing “The Avengers” at 9:30 p.m. in the Campus Center lounge.
Senior international studies major Maegan Starcher, the director of movie night, said the CPB plans to see how this movie night goes before making any permanent changes.
“We are always looking for options when it comes to movie night,” she said. “We have discussed previously about other theaters or renting other locations on campus to show a film. In our next few CPB meetings, we will be evaluating movie night and discussing all of our
options for next semester.”
When Hollywood Studio Theatres closed, the CPB was unsure how it would still hold the movie nights.
They landed at the option of hosting movies on campus for students to watch.
“We found this particular setup to be very accessible to students,” Starcher said. “It’s right in the middle of campus, nobody has to drive and struggle to find a parking spot, and it’s free.”
Even with these conveniences, students are struggling to accept the change.
“It’s nice that we have an event going on on campus, but it’s not as fun as an opportunity to go out to the theater and see a new release,” senior chemistry major Kristalynn Davis said. “There should be another off-campus event in its place”
The CPB held an event earlier in the year similar to the new setup. In this event, students were invited to the Campus
Center lounge to watch “The Dark Knight Rises.”
“The company we get the movie rights from offers pre-home releases, so we were able to get ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ before it was released to the public,” Starcher said.
“We tried this setup once and liked it, so for the last movie night of the semester, we are going to keep the same format,” Starcher said. “We reserved part of the (Campus Center) lounge, and chairs, couches and seats are set up to watch the film. Also, people brought blankets and pillows and sat on the floor in front of the chairs to watch the movie.
“This time, we are going to try for more of a comfortable, hanging-out and watching-a-movie feel. People are more than welcome to bring their own pillows, blankets and snacks and make themselves comfortable.”
Weighing the cost of being a student
