I didn’t think any pep rally could be worse than the ones at my high school. Midnight Madness proved me wrong.
But how do we make Midnight Madness and pep rallies in general more interesting? How do we surpass the typical freshman versus senior, run around a bat ten times entertainment?

“The cheer squad does this thing called ‘gymkana’ where they jump off a trampoline into a ring of fire, and the basketball team makes up skits,” University of Maryland junior Krystal Cornetta said.
Although I do not see Quinnipiac allowing a ring of fire anytime soon, I think it would be a good idea to let teams make up something creative like a skit.

My main problem with Midnight Madness is the fact that it begins at 7 p.m. and ends about two hours later. It is hard to know what to expect from an event when the name itself is deceiving.

“I feel like they have (Midnight Madness) so early because they think people would choose to go to something else later at night,” freshman Mackenzie Cuddy said. “But if it was more fun and everyone went, then nothing else would be going on that night.”

Overall, I do not think Quinnipiac hypes Midnight Madness up enough, so the entire school does not get into it. The event is treated as a time-filler. If students have nothing better to do at 7 that Friday night, they can go to Midnight Madness.

This should not be the case. Midnight Madness should be something students clear his or her schedules for.
If the pep rally was at midnight, it would give students plenty of time to meet up with friends and get pumped for the event. The school’s argument for why the pep rally is not at midnight probably pertains to alcohol.

I think that in general, the fear is that students will do something called “Pregaming,” drinking excessively before going out and then show up to Midnight Madness drunk.

I personally do not see this as a valid point. An early Midnight Madness only makes students begin drinking earlier in the evening. If the event was later, students could casually drink instead of trying to binge drink before 7 p.m.
Making the event earlier will not keep kids sober, it will just keep them from coming.

“If a student decides to drink before Midnight Madness, they are going to drink whether it is 6 p.m. or 11 p.m.,” Cuddy said.
Although Midnight Madness definitely needs some improvement, I do think it has potential. I thought it was a great idea to have the band Crowded Street perform – music almost always contributes to an enjoyable atmosphere.

However, I think the band should have been able to perform inside. It was freezing out, so Crowded Street could have been given some space inside the huge sports center to perform.

Also, If Midnight Madness had started later, I think the turnout for the band’s performance would have been better. I know that by the time 6:30 rolled around, I was not ready to jump on a shuttle.

I was also impressed with the cheerleaders’ routine and I enjoyed the opening acts. The performers obviously practiced a lot and I think it is a shame their audience was not bigger.

Overall, as a university, we need to decide how much school spirit we possess. Midnight Madness and pep rallies are only as cool as we make them, and if we truly desire Midnight Madness maybe we should actually have our pep rally at midnight.