Column by Avery Gregurich

Gregurich is a first-year English major and can be reached at [email protected]

Recently, residence halls and academic buildings all across campus have seen a, rather prominent addition to their announcement boards: A brightly colored flier announcing what are being billed as “Free Movie Fridays.” It started this past Friday and is set to run for the following two Fridays in either the Sussman Theater or in Aliber, with plans of continuing the program on past the month of February.

If any of you reading this are like myself, the word “free” on the flier had my attention from the start. Couple the word “free” with the promotional poster images of three films that have a combined  nine Golden Globes and 23 Academy Awards nominations, and my Friday nights for the foreseeable future have suddenly become filled.

The Student Senate’s recent decision to offer three films, (“Skyfall,” “Life of Pi” and “Argo”), to Drake students free of charge is, to my mind, one of the most exciting events that I have seen offered in my brief experience at Drake. The feeling seems to be well reciprocated amongst fellow students, not only myself. Actually, I can only truthfully speak for Carpenter Hall here, but to propose that the majority of students are excited about this event requires no stretch of the imagination.

Of course, any time money is spent, reflection rears itself and begs the common question, “What else could the money have been spent on?” In my opinion, the decision to bring these films to Drake students was the best option. I am not on Student Senate and therefore am not aware of the other alternatives available, but I cannot see another option that appeals to and benefits so many Drake Students all at once, which I assume and hope was the Senate’s goal.

These films are, as indicated by their overwhelming number of award nominations, critically acclaimed worldwide. This alone should entice students into making the trek to the basement of Olmsted or the walk over to Aliber. But, here’s the proverbial “icing on the cake.” These movies are free of charge. Where you potentially would have paid anywhere from $10 to $20 for a ticket to view these films in theater, you pay nothing here. (Well, technically you pay tuition, and as we all know, that’s very far from nothing, and increasing. But let’s forget about that for now.) This is a can’t-miss opportunity for all Drake students and I don’t imagine there being many empty seats at these Free Movie Fridays.