Get back to campus life with SPB’s “Casino Night”

The Student Program Board (SPB) will be hosting its annual “Casino Night” on Feb. 19. The event will occur in the Oakland Center (OC) from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Students will have to fill out the OU health screening form and bring their OU ID to enter. Semi-formal attire is encouraged, and masks must be worn throughout the event. This night will feature games, food, prizes and a concert.

The OC will be turned into a casino with games such as poker, blackjack, Texas hold’em, let it ride, roulette, craps and more. Along with the various casino games available, there will also be make and take items such as customized dog tags, custom bumper stickers, and caricature picture drawings. Food will also be provided throughout the event.

Upon entering “Casino Night,” students will be given chips to bet on games. The chips can be turned in for tickets to win prizes in a raffle. These prizes include a television, Apple Watch, mini-fridge, Nintendo Switch and more. The raffle will occur following the concert.

“Casino Night” is just one of SPB’s significant events. The annual events director of SPB and organizer of this event, Kaleigh Belz, said their goal is to bring students together and offer them enjoyment.

“It’s something that I think students look forward to every year as one of the two big iconic events,” Belz said. “You got the “Carnival” in the fall, and you got the “Casino Night” in the winter. It’s really something that brings the student body together all in one place as a pull-in attraction. I think the SPB’s goal is always to bring students together and give them something that they’ll enjoy when it comes to student programming.”

Along with bringing students together, a key takeaway from this event will be the memories students can gain from this event. Belz states with everything being virtual in the recent past, this event can bring students back to participating in programming.

“A lot of it is going to be memories,” Belz said. “It’s going to be one of the more iconic things they’re going to be able to do on Oakland’s campus. Especially coming back from a year and a half of virtual where a lot of students weren’t able to be on campus or participate in programming. So part of our goal is to bring that back a little bit.”

SPB President Joshua Robinson mentioned this event helps move away from the academic side of the school and makes the college experience more full. In addition, this event is meant to be fun, emphasizing getting back to campus life.

“The whole purpose of SPB is to provide fun and diverse events for the student body,” Robinson said. “So it’s something to kind of get away from academia and make the college experience a little bit more full. Especially as we’ve jumped and been trying to leave this COVID-19 era and move back into campus life as we’ve known it, that’s a key part of this event. It’s a staple event for fun. This is a super fun event that has no purpose besides enjoyment.”