Canes After Dark kickoffs semester with carnival games, pet contest

The night of Jan. 17 was cold, but that didn’t stop students from attending the first Canes After Dark of the new semester.

Canes After Dark is a late-night programming event that began last semester. The event is held once a month and features a different theme. This month’s theme is Spring Kickoff.

Kathy Andrade, assistant director of Student Activities and Student Organizations, oversaw the event. She claims that about 900 to 1000 students attended.

For those who didn’t attend, Andrade had this to say, “They missed out on a lot of fun. Check out our future events.”

The Student Activity Center (SAC) patio was decorated with lights. Students arrived in droves, wearing sweaters and coats to stay warm, while vendors and attractions prepared for their arrival.

These attractions included carnival games such as Whack-A-Mole and a balloon water race. Freshmen Veronica Nunez and Jinsun Moon were the first in line to get their picture drawn by a sketch artist.

Students were also able to get Henna tattoos, listen to a fortuneteller and make tie-dye T-shirts.

The pet costume contest was an event highlight. Students and staff brought their animal companions dressed as Zorro and a cat burglar.

Koki and Kibi were the winners. Koki was a, “Suntan U” girl, while Kibi was Q-DAWG, a fraternity dog. The pets were led by Anthony Sierra, a UM staff member in the Office of Housing and Residential Life.

Sierra is a UM staff member who works at Housing and Residential Life. Ennis, unfortunately couldn’t attend the event, but Sierra wanted to credit the co-owner.

In comparison to last semester’s events, senior Galie Darwich felt that “previous events [were] better.”

On the other hand, Erica Rohrscheib felt differently.

“I’ve been enjoying myself,” she said. “I had a photo of me taken with my Superman T-shirt and Cowboy hat. Have you ever seen a super cowgirl?”

Student Government (SG) partnered with Canes Night Live and Canes After Dark to organize Spring Kickoff.

“With Spring Kickoff, we helped with the planning of the event, we helped staff the event,” said Adam Orshan, press secretary of Student Government. “We were involved in just about every aspect of Spring Kickoff.”

The next Canes after Dark will take place on Feb. 14, and will have a Mardi Gras theme. For more information, contact Andrade at k.andrade@miami.edu.