Indiana Wesleyan University’s IGNITE encouraged community involvement with Family Game Night on Saturday, Feb. 3.
President of International Affairs, Jamie Bryant, said IGNITE wanted to have something more chill to bring students together. Bryant said IGNITE hopes to make this event happen on a regular basis.
“So, you’ll see the layout of the room isn’t this grand thing that’s meant to pack a ton of students,” Bryant said. “It’s kind of meant for intimate, non-screen-based activity, where we just kind of get to sit around tables and talk and laugh and have fun and eat snacks and just get to know each other a little bit better.”
IGNITE partnered with five on-campus organizations for this event. They wanted to provide more opportunities for the other student groups.
Students for Life accepted this partnership with IGNITE to provide awareness of their organization. They hosted multiple games of Jeopardy during the event.
“We’re always looking to let people know that we are here on campus and we’re always looking for more people to become interested in what we do,” President of Students for Life, Beth Snyder said.
They said they wanted to bring a sense of community to the school.
“As I saw the banners with logos of all the clubs, I mean, it’s kind of basic, but it just unities them all and we’re not just our little islands,” Vice President Gabe Hooper said.
The Exercise Science Club showed their support by providing the game Twister.
“It felt like it was a really cool opportunity for us to get involved with different types of clubs around campus,” club coordinator Abigail Beach said. “I think it’s cool for events like this to reach other people outside of our circle and be able to build community outside of who we normally reach.”
Mixed-ish joined IGNITE’s event by providing Bop-It and Uno. Their mission is to create a community for mixed individuals.
“Our role is really just to create inclusivity,” social media and event coordinator Elayna Parandi said. “That’s a part of getting our name out there with students, that there is a place if you’re mixed, to feel welcome and have a home.”
Chess club shares the love of interacting with new people by bringing Chess to the event.
“I love to see things happening on weekends,” President of the Chess Club, Gabe Benninghoff said. “There’s not many things to do around here. So, anything to give people an opportunity to come and do something outside of their dorm rooms is always great.”
The E-Sports Team also joined the IGNITE event.
“We’re interested in getting involved,” head e-sports coach, Ryan Plummer said.
“It really brings our community together because we can bond,” student Natalie King said. “It is also a great way to de-stress.”
Students said they appreciated the calm and friendly atmosphere as well as the simplicity of the event.
“It’s a safer environment to interact and branch out,” student Ella Hudson said. Bryant stresses the concept of creating togetherness at IWU.
“We believe that we’re not the only student organization making a difference,” Bryant said. “And so, we want to engage our campus partners by pulling in different student groups because at the end of the day, this is our IWU.”
