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Union Night took place on Saturday, Sept. 27th as a part of Family Weekend. This was the third year Union Night has taken place as a part of this weekend that brings in family members of students, faculty and staff.
The event spotlights the school’s student athletes.
Savannah Hughes, a senior exercise science major, is an outside hitter for the volleyball team.
“Union Night made me feel really loved from the community. We saw people who may not necessarily come to all our games, but they were there at Union Night supporting us. Their cheering let us know that we are making them proud,” said Hughes.
Pedro Faller, a senior business administration major, is a forward on the basketball team. Faller said this type of love is needed now, more than ever.
“It was very important for us to feel the love of the Union community, since we’re moving to a new division. This is new for us, but with the support of the Union crowd, we can feel a lot better about it.”
Faller believes that it is important for athletes to have the same support at games as they did at Union Night.
“That extra push that the crowd gives us is sometimes the reason why we win the games. To know that they want the win just as much as we do makes us want to make them proud.”
Reagan Schrader, a junior psychology major and softball player, agrees with Faller.
“Having the support of the student body there cheering you on is awesome! The support of the student body, for all sports teams, means a lot to each student athlete. Hearing the cheers from our fellow students is a unanimous roar that cannot be matched, and can be a game changer in intense situations.”
This night was also important to Schrader because of the familiarity it brought with her parents visiting for Family Weekend.
“I enjoyed seeing people cheer us on, but I really loved seeing the parents supporting us as well. Union Night gives parents the opportunity to see all the student athletes on every team as well as visit booths of many different organizations. Also, it was really cool to see the new “HYPE” video too.”
The video was produced by Joshua Farmer, a senior digital media studies major.
An early version of this article incorrectly stated this was the first year Union Night occurred on Family Weekend. The article was updated Oct. 3 to correct the error.
