Students have expressed concerns about the changes made to an event that happens every semester.
Free Movie Night was a monthly, off-campus event hosted at Harkins Theatres Bricktown, 150 E. Reno Ave. Students would swipe their Student IDs at the door, receive free ticket vouchers and see a movie of their choice, until last semester.
SAC was trying something new in Fall 2018 by hosting Free Movie Nights on campus to save money and change things up said Madelynn Buckman, entertainment business senior and vice president of Student Activities Council.
SAC showed Oceans 8 on the quad and Hocus Pocus in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center last semester, both of which were on-campus Free Movie Nights.
“The plan is to have two Free Movie Nights this semester again,” Buckman said. “Obviously trying out last semester, not having it at a theater with choices didn’t work out, students weren’t happy about it.”
Buckman said her adviser, Haley Stiles, assistant director of student engagement, is trying to get in touch with Cinemark Tinseltown & XD, 6001 N. Martin Luther King Ave., to host both Free Movie Nights off campus this semester.
“I think people think that I don’t want Free Movie Nights, and that’s not the case,” Buckman said. “It was just us trying something new, and you don’t know until you try. We’re doing our best for this semester to fix that.”
The goal is for Free Movie Night to function as it did off-campus in the past. There are no dates set for Free Movie Nights this semester.
Morgan Wanamaker, dance junior and chief commissioner of SAC, said she is excited about the new plans because she was disappointed that there were no off-campus Free Movie Nights last semester.
“Fall semester is very hectic, and there’s a lot more on the calendar universitywide than there is in the spring, so that made things difficult,” she said. “I was really hoping we were going to get to do one.”
Wanamaker said she enjoyed the on-campus movies because it was a nice change of pace, but she hopes off-campus movies can be incorporated too.
“Each month I had something to look forward to, and I hope that’s something we can bring back into the campus this semester,” Wanamaker said.
Mark Howell, mass communications senior, said he thought on-campus movie nights were a good idea.
“I believe the on-campus movie night was a good alternative instead of the movie theater,” Howell said. “It does save tons of money, and, at the same time, students still get their movie night.”
Howell also said he attended the previous off-campus movie nights, and he appreciated being in an actual theater and having concessions nearby.
Buckman said not all of the budget for Free Movie Night was used last semester, and what was left will be added to the $7,500 Free Movie Night budget this semester. She also said tickets to Tinseltown are about $3 cheaper per ticket than tickets to Harkins.
Megan Berning, acting junior, said she prefers off-campus movie nights and wishes SAC members were less frugal.
“I understand the idea of saving money, but what’s the point in spending any money if people aren’t enjoying it? I think spending the money on Free Movie Nights is 100 percent worth it,” she said.
The highest past attendance on record from the Harkins Free Movie Nights was about 750 people, so Buckman said they hope to have 1,000 tickets in preparation for the first movie night this semester.
Elise O’Connell, music senior, said she’s disappointed that students were not warned of the changes to Free Movie Night last semester.
“The issue I had with the change was that nobody knew Free Movie Nights were gone,” O’Connell said. “If they had wanted to save money and done away with them, our community would have understood, but SGA should have notified the student body.”
O’Connell said she and many others were upset with the lack of transparency and honesty from SGA regarding the alteration of an event that happens every semester.
“I think they should bring them back if they can,” O’Connell said. “It’s a great way for OCU students to relieve some stress and get off campus.”
Having Free Movie Night every month caused SAC to lose money, Wanamaker said.
“People would be like, ‘oh, I’ll just go to the next one,’” she said. “So we’re trying to make it more of an exciting event that doesn’t happen every month so that people can benefit more from it, and it’s still financially smart.”
Buckman said she understands why students post questions about events on the OCU Facebook group, but encouraged them to approach her directly with questions or concerns.
“A couple people have reached out to me, and I’ve answered them, so I encourage them to reach out to me and talk to me about it,” she said.
Wanamaker said elections for new officers will determine what the future of Free Movie Night looks like. She said she hopes to run for the SAC vice president position.
“We hear you, and we want to make events that you want as well,” Wanamaker said. “Come to the events. Talk to us. Come to our meetings. We’re more than happy to work with you and hear your needs. But it’s easier to do it face-to-face than over social media.”
If students have questions, they may email Buckman at mybuckman@my.okcu.edu or Wanamaker at mewanamaker@my.okcu.edu.
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