For the fourth straight year, Student Activities Board (SAB) held Midnight Madness, an event featuring games and inter-class competition, in Angela Athletic Facility at Saint Mary’s on Thursday night.
SAB president Erica Chiarello said Midnight Madness is an event focused on developing a sense of community with classmates through games and other fun activities. The four classes earn points toward their respective teams, and the winner is announced before SAB announces the year’s Tostal performer at the end of the night.
Chiarello said Saint Mary’s brought back the event four years ago as a way to unite the four classes. Announcing the Tostal artist at the end of the night is important to get students excited about spring activities on campus, she said.
Chiarello said Midnight Madness also included giveaways, including free parking passes for next year and Saint Mary’s gear. The giveaways have been key to increasing turnout, but the Tostal artist is also a big draw, she said.
The artist for Tostal this year on April 24 will be singer-songwriter Bonnie McKee.
Each year, students vote on an artist they want to bring to campus. That protocol continued this year, but, unfortunately, the budget did not allow SAB to bring the selected artist to campus, so SAB selected McKee, Chiarello said.
“SAB’s decision to have Bonnie McKee as the Tostal artist was one that the SAB committee made with the whole student body in mind,” Chiarello said. “Even if you do not know who Bonnie McKee is, you will definitely leave Tostal remembering her name.
“Bonnie McKee is an artist that has written music for very famous musicians many of whom students listen to [including] Katy Perry, Britney Spears and Rita Ora,“ Chiarello said.
McKee wrote “California Gurls” and “Last Friday Night” for Katy Perry as well as “Hold it Against Me” for Britney Spears, Chiarello said.
Chiarello said students from Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame and Holy Cross should get excited for this year’s Tostal performance because it will be packed with energy and fun.
“Tostal is SAB’s biggest and last event of the year, and we will go out with a bang, Chiarello said.
Chiarello said SAB succeeded in bringing students together during Midnight Madness as part of the leadup to Tostal.
“We had a really great turnout, especially from the first year [students],” Chiarello said. “We were hesitant, but all four classes showed up and participated.”
SAB committee member Emily James said it is important for Saint Mary’s students to go to Midnight Madness and interact with their classmates.
“[Midnight Madness] is a fun way to promote school spirit and have fun with your Saint Mary’s sisters,” James said.
James said the games included a snack toss, during which a student from each class put a shower cap covered in shaving cream on her head, and another student threw cheese puffs at her head, trying to get the most cheese puffs in the shaving cream. There was also a dancing contest to see who could do “the worm” the best, James said.
SAB vice president Allie Gerths said she was happy with the turnout from all the classes.
“We’ve been planning for [Midnight Madness] for a few months,” Gerths said. “It gets bigger and bigger every year.”
