Student Union open all Knight

The loud music keeping you awake last night wasn't coming from the late-night partiers upstairs; it was coming from the Student Union.

The UCF Student Government Association, in partnership with the Student Union, hosted a grand-opening event on Tuesday from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. for Student Union @ Knight, the first major initiative of the McCann/Brock Administration.

For more photos, view the gallery here.

Starting now, the Union will be open 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday, and gives students yet another all-night study and hang out space on campus. Students can utilize study lounges and the express print lab; they can also reserve conference rooms. Scantrons and blue books will also be available at the information desk.

Student Body President Matthew McCann was pleased with the turnout and was excited about the significance of the event.

"There are so many students out here who are now becoming a part of history," McCann said. "This is the first time ever that the Student Union has been open 24 hours outside of Study Union."

The kickoff event featured a DJ who mixed multiple genres of music while jugglers wearing checkered pants spun soccer balls and swallowed swords. Students were able to have their caricature drawn, have their future predicted by a psychic and spin the SGA prize wheel, as well.

Freshman industrial engineering major Kevin Washam came for all the "free stuff." It was a pleasant surprise when he actually found out what the event was for.

"That's pretty cool. Usually I study in my dorm," Washam said. "I guess I would go to the All Knight Study, but [the Student Union] is a lot closer because I live in Libra."

That's what McCann and Student Body Vice President Adam Brock wanted: to make sure students have somewhere to go at all hours of the day, a safe location that can offer them an area outside of their student housing.

"We realized that All Knight Study was very successful but that not all students live on that end of campus," McCann said. "The Student Union is the heart of campus, so what better place to have open 24 hours than the most accessible place to all students."

Brock said the Student Union was the next big step after All Knight Study.

"We knew we had to do something big and drastic, so why not take the chance and keep the heart of campus open 24 hours a day, five days a week," Brock said.

McCann and Brock, along with their SGA staff, served a late-night breakfast to all who attended and ended the night with a group "wop" dance to the pumping music.

"We are trying to bring that out this year – that we are fun people," Brock said.

Sophomore radio/television major Akilah Fields said that the Student Union has more to offer than the library or All Knight Study.

"I think it's great, to be honest," Fields said. "It gives a lot of people a great place to come study with friends or hang out if they don't want to go to the library because they think it might be too quiet for them."

Brock said it's more than just a place to quietly study.

"Here, if you want to do a group project, you can do it right out here with three or four tables," Brock said. "If you want to play some Xbox but don't have one in your dorm, come on over to the Student Union. It's a place to hang out other than your dorm."