By TAYLOR ANDERSON
Reporter

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — Spotlight hosted a Welcome to Vegas event Thursday, Feb. 9, bringing casino-style games to students on campus.

The event, which included card games like blackjack, roulette, craps, poker and Texas Hold ‘em, allowed students to compete for tickets that could be used toward prize packs. Leading up to the program, Spotlight hosted trivia competitions about Las Vegas in the Elliott Student Union to garner enthusiasm for the event.

“People guessed things like the number of casinos in Vegas, and the person that was closest to getting it right or got it right got a bean bag chair or a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card,” said Aperiendae Penfield, a Spotlight Mules After Dark coordinator.

Penfield said she organized the event after being inspired by the excitement and entertainment Las Vegas is known to offer.

“I was looking through past events and I wanted to bring Vegas to UCM,” Penfield said. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard it’s super fun.”

The event was a Mules After Dark program, which is a division of Spotlight dedicated to coordinating programs for students during later evening hours to compel students to stay on campus. Penfield said MAD events usually take place from 8-10 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays.

“Their purpose is just to try to keep people on campus and keep them from going home,” Penfield said. “We usually get a lot of people to come out. Mules After Dark usually gets around 100 to 200 people out at their events.”

Scout Miller, Spotlight’s vice president of marketing, said programs like the Welcome to Vegas event are typically targeted toward underclassmen who often do not have means of transportation, and are left to find ways to have a good time on school grounds.

“I know it’s really nice for our freshmen who don’t always have cars to leave campus,” Miller said. “It allows people to not have to travel very far for events that keep them entertained.”

Miller said Spotlight events like Welcome to Vegas provides opportunities for students to get involved on campus and have fun in the process.

“I think we rock it. Across the board, we have a variety of programs that allow people to do things that spark their interest,” Miller said. “They allow people to do things on campus they might not necessarily have the chance to do. I think that generally whenever people come to our events, they have a lot of fun and want to come back to them.”