By Nicholas Zuniga
During the first week of the fall 2023 semester, students got to enjoy a long standing tradition: Movie Night in the Otter Student Union (OSU). Students piled into the OSU ballroom to enjoy a screening of “Monsters University” as part of the Otter Day festivities.
Associated Students (AS) at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) organized the movie night on Aug. 21. Students were greeted with spooky blue lighting, popcorn and beverages.
“All my friends were talking about [movie night] and I love ‘Monsters University.’ Plus, the ‘Shrek’ [movie night] was really good last year,” said Marlee Dial, a third year student. Students gathered in the ballroom and came equipped with pillows, blankets, pajamas and snacks. Some students were seen with a wagon in order to hold their various comfort items.
CSUMB has a contract with a film providing company which allows the school to play certain films. Each movie played at the university comes with a fee, so the older the film, the smaller the fee. One AS organizer estimated that the “Barbie” film would cost at least $1,000 to screen. AS will not be organizing a Barbenheimer themed movie night any time soon.
Movie nights are a common happening at the OSU, and there will surely be more films played throughout the semester. The next movie night will take place on Sept. 15, and will celebrate the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month with a feature of “La Bamba.”
“[AS] is gonna try to do more polls on our Instagram to get insight on what students want to see,” said Denise Do, a third year student and former event coordinator for AS. Visit @as_csumb on Instagram to get updated on more movie nights to come.