Cardinal Nights, Stanford’s organization for coordinating non-alcoholic events around campus, was nominated for Campus Activities Magazine’s Best National Campus Program Board. This magazine highlights the most successful activities happening on college campuses around the country.
The award of Best National Campus Program Board commemorates the best-coordinated activities programs on different university campuses. This year, four other campus programs were nominated. Voting for the award closed on March 1, and results are set to be released sometime in early April.
Organizers of Cardinal Nights were thrilled to be recognized by this nomination and state that it marks a huge step for the fairly young program.
“We are very excited and humbled to be nominated for a national award,” said Ralph Castro, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of the Office of Alcohol Policy and Education, which oversees Cardinal Nights, in a written statement to The Daily. “We have put a ton of hard work and commitment into making Cardinal Nights a popular program. And being recognized on a national stage is amazing, given that Cardinal Nights is only three years old.”
Castro said that what makes Cardinal Nights unique as an organization is that it started out as a way to provide fun and engaging social events that were non-alcoholic to students across campus. In the past few years, it has organized events such as Cosmic Bowling, a trip to see the musical “Chicago” and Winter Craft Night. It has also helped sponsor events such as Rhythms, Party on the Edge and Sam Tsui.
Over the years, Cardinal Nights has hosted around 170 events with over 26,000 attendees.
In general, students seem to be pleased with the quality of activities presented by Cardinal Nights and have expressed appreciation for the wide audience appeal of the events.
In addition to organizing alcohol-free events, Cardinal Nights also helps fund or co-sponsor events with student groups around campus. Students can apply for a mini-grant to partner with Cardinal Nights to host an event.
“I think Cardinal Nights is one of those fun-giving organizations the school has for students,” said NiuNiu Teo ’16. “I see it as more part of a larger infrastructure of financial support for student groups that’s really great at Stanford. I think its a great way for students to throw events for each other.”
Castro said that Cardinal Nights hopes to continue its inclusive presence on campus and provide a welcoming environment for all students.
Contact Stephanie Zhang at szhang3 ‘at’ stanford.edu.