Campus Life Night began with a slow start but with a hopeful turnout.

Despite minimal publicity all those involved in planning the festivities were optimistic the night would be a success. Recognized Student Organizations came together Tuesday night for their annual fair at the University Union’s Grand Ballroom for “Get a Life…Campus Life Night.” The evening was sponsored by Student Government, the University Board and Eastern’s Office of Orientation.

The purpose of the evening was, “To welcome students to the campus for the spring semester, as a kickoff event,” said Yve Williams, Eastern’s student vice president of student affairs.

Events included video game tournaments, prize drawings, bingo, a game show, musician Ryan Groff on the acoustic guitar and color video buttons, all surrounding the theme of carnivals and Mardi Gras.

Those who attended enjoyed the Mardi Gras theme the most as well as the fact that the even was very diverse.

“There is a diverse group of people here, but there is nothing entertainment wise, just people sitting around at tables with nothing to promote activities,” said Kelly Tull, who was an organizer of the event.

The turnout was lower than expected as the majority of those in attendance were personally involved in the event.

“Its a great idea to let new student organizations get some exposure, but I wished for more of a turnout,” said Kristy Poteete, president of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority.

Those involved were convinced the reason for the lack of turnout was because of the lack of exposure, which was minimized because of budget cuts.

“Its pretty dead,” said Dawn Puetz, a member of Alpha Phi Omega.

“I wish there would have been more publicity.”

Because last year’s fair drew a significantly larger crowd, those running the RSO tables on hand anticipated the crowd to pick up toward the end of the night. Many had suggestions for improvements that could be made in time for next year.

“I would like to see a lot more different booths, there is mostly just RSOs this year,” Tull said.

“It would be fun if they had a dance,” Poteete said.

The one thing most could agree on was that the event needs more publicity in the future.

“More publicity, huge publicity, and hold it in a more public spotlight, somewhere that people would pass through,” Puetz said. “There was more activities last year, it is mainly the RSOs this year. No one comes out to support the campus itself.”