Pop music, loud chatter and disco lights filled the room as students gathered for a Dress as Your Type bingo night Feb 5.
The Bingo Club hosts biweekly events for students to socialize and win prizes. In honor of Valentine’s Day, the club organized a themed bingo night featuring prizes such as chocolates, stuffed animals and a LEGO set. The final round included a mystery prize.
The Science, Engineering, and Technology building room 106 was lit by a disco ball while pop music played. Ring Pops were set out for attendees. A few students dressed up for the theme, including sports jerseys, hospital gowns and trucker hats, and everyone was guessing everyone else’s type.
Participants received two bingo boards for several rounds of games. The first round allowed players to win with any bingo pattern. Later rounds included diagonal, inner square, heart-shaped and blackout patterns. With each round, anticipation grew as players waited for specific numbers.
Numbers were drawn using a traditional bingo cage, and the sound of the spinning balls added to the atmosphere as participants were on the edge of their seats waiting for their numbers to be called.
Competition intensified near the end of the event as students hoped to win the LEGO set and mystery prize. Some jokingly shouted “cheater” when someone won, hoping the game would continue.
Each Bingo Club event consists of a theme, often tied to a current pop culture event or holidays. Past events have included:
- “Stranger Things”
- Grandma and grandpa
- “K-Pop Demon Hunters”
- Roblox
- Christmas pajamas
This was the club’s first Valentine’s Day-themed event. Both returning participants and newcomers attended.
“We need to go again to win,” said Mariabela Romanes, a freshman pre-medical radiography major from Mesquite, Nevada.
Romanes said she and her friends have been coming to the club events since last semester after they discovered the club at Club Rush. The losses keep pulling them in, Romanes said.
“This was my first event, and even though I didn’t win, I had a lot of fun,” Carson Lujan, a freshman pre-engineering major from Las Vegas, said.
Bingo Club plans to transition to weekly events soon, said club president Cecily Barlow, a junior biology major from South Jordan.
“I went to Birds Aren’t Real Bingo Night with my friends, and we were like ‘Woah I love playing bingo – what if we just play bingo every week?’” Barlow said.
The club has an attendance rate of 15 to 30 students who regularly attend themed bingo nights.
“It is a fun way to get together with friends on a Thursday night,” Barlow said. “We wanted a club where we could just enjoy ourselves and win fun prizes.”
“I am glad I found this club. I could definitely see myself coming regularly,” Lujan said.
Students can find upcoming Bingo Club events on Instagram at @utu.bingo.club.
