Story by Lauren Baker
It’s time to break the Drake Bubble.
Dogtown After Hours 2014 is aiming to get students to “break the bubble” and get into the Des Moines community in fun and exciting ways.
This alcohol-alternative event is to be held on Friday from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. in Olmsted Center.
This year’s Dogtown After Hours theme is “Break the Bubble.”
The goal of this event is to give students a chance to experience Des Moines as well as new things on campus.
“Dogtown After Hours” creates an opportunity for students to be part of something larger than themselves,” said Laura Vollmer, a fourth-year pharmacy student, who was instrumental in planning the first Dogtown After Hours.
The planning board is expecting at least 500 students to participate in Dogtown After Hours this year.
This year’s on-campus events include dueling pianos, video games, palm reading, casino games, a hip-hop dance class, crafts, caricature, Henna Tattoos and a step show.
Sleepy Hallow is setting up lazer tag in upper Olmsted as well.
Students will be free to move around to all the different activities taking place in Olmsted.
All activities on campus are free to attend.
This is the first year that off-campus activities are included in the Dogtown After Hours schedule.
The off-campus activities include bowling, Sky Zone and paintball.
There will be buses to transport students to the different locations.
Bowling and Sky Zone are free, but there is a $5 fee for students who want to in form a paintball team.
“It’s a good way to meet people and try new things,” said Elizabeth Bald, Dogtown After Hours co-chair, “The stuff we have going on isn’t the stuff you would do everyday.”
Not only are students breaking into the Des Moines community, they are also going to have the opportunity to experience new things on campus whether it is with a new club or a new culture.
The planning committee collaborated with a variety of organizations on campus to give students a diverse experience.
The final event this year includes performances from Drake’s three a cappella groups, the Brocal Chords, Drake TrebleMakers and Fermata the Blue.
The night will be topped off with fireworks and prizes.
“Both times I have attended it has been a lot of fun. There is just this unique atmosphere with all the different organization and all the different people coming together for the event. It makes it a really fun and enjoyable experience,” said Zach Keller, Dogtown After Hours co-chair.
Dogtown After Hours started in 2011 when Student Senate proposed the idea.
It wanted to create an alcohol-alternative program for Drake students that would be memorable.
This year is the third annual Dogtown After Hours.
The event could not be held in 2013 due to a lack of funding.
Dogtown After Hours is now an annual funded student organization to prevent this from happening again.
Drake University broke a world record for the world’s largest custard pie fight at the first Dogtown After Hours in 2011.
The 2011 theme revolved around the Guinness Book of World Records.
“I liked it. It was definitely different than anything I’ve been to before,” said junior Irena Stojan, who attended the event her first year at Drake.
For more information on this year’s Dogtown After Hours, contact Zach Keller at zachary.keller@drake.edu.
