On Thursday, April 9th, ASAP and United Black Students (UBS) came together in an collaboration for an event hosted in the CSB of gaming, pizza, and conversations. The event was held on the second floor lobby where people from the different organizations had conversations, including topics of is there really a G.O.A.T(Greatest of All Time) in the NBA, or is it too different of a game to where you can’t really measure if there is one, superheroes, and so many more conversations. For the gaming aspect, there was a room with a Madden “tournament” was hosted. The competition came down to Collin Wilson and RoFael Jackson Jr. In another room, there was a Nintendo Switch set up with Mario Kart 8, which had a good turnout.
“Collin Wilson and Mohammad Alsheikh playing a friendly game of Madden”. Photo by Tyce Alumbaugh.
These organizations wanted a chance to potentially get people around campus out of their dorms and bring them together in a time of fun and friendship. Collin Wilson during the event would go on to say, “Getting people out of their rooms can be difficult especially when it’s nearing a really busy time in the school year, and it’s a great thing to be able to put on events like this that can potentially get people involved in ways they might’ve needed just as a stress relief or even they want to meet new people.”
The event was a big step for UBS. As a first-year organization, UBS has made a big impact on Monmouth. Jayden Stovall, Treasurer of UBS, said, “This organization was started this year, and ASAP has been around for quite some time now. Being able to do this collaboration with them makes this special to us because it’s a blessing, and it’s shown us how far we’ve come as an organization just throughout one year.” With both ASAP and UBS coming together with this event, it was very well thought out and very organized, with UBS also providing Pizza and drinks, making this event come full circle into a time where you can be with people who are close, but also would allow you to be introduced to new people. “Knowing ASAP is a student organization that helps plan campus events, so that was obviously a given, but also being friends with a lot of the members of the organization made the connection easier. Their outreach that they have across campus is also huge, which is why we were able to set up an event as big as this.” said Stovall when asked why UBS chose ASAP as a partnering organization. When it comes to the future of UBS, Stovall and the rest of UBS are very optimistic and looking forward to the future. “With the executive board, they are very well established, and have a good head on their shoulders, and they know how to get things done. With this group moving forward, we’ll be able to make a lot of progress. Within the next two to three years, who knows how big we’ll be able to grow this organization! Sky’s the limit.”