CSI Provides Over-the-weekend Entertainment to Students

Since early October, the Center for Student Involvement (CSI) has held several movie screenings over the weekends as part of the Weekends West Georgia (WWG) Cinema selection in the Townsend Center.

“As an organization, we are hoping to instill a spirit of positivity, engagement and some form of relief by screening movies usually based on thematic elements such as action, nostalgia or holiday-oriented movies,” said WWG Assistant Emuesiri Emereje.

The WWG team collaborated with the Townsend Center staff and various other on-campus organizations such as Housing and Residence Life, UREC and the Admissions Department to promote the student experience.

AnneMarie Reed, the CSI’s acting supervisor at the time presented the overall idea. Emereje, then took part in the planning of the initiative in September.

So far, CSI has shown Bad Boys For Life, Toy Story 4 and It 2 during Homecoming week for Halloween. The films are designed to provide students with fun weekend events and entertainment.

“Weekends West Georgia was created to showcase, engage and provide engagement opportunities within the UWG community and the Carrollton regions,” said Emereje. “We show the movies typically three times over the course of a weekend. This has allowed various amounts of students to have multiple means for exposure to the film and for them to fill their weekend time effectively.”

CSI provides a safe movie-theatre environment. The Townsend Center staff continuously checks before, during and after each film screening to ensure that spaces are cleaned effectively, groups are seated accordingly and there is sufficient time between projections to avoid risks and maintain safety. These measures include either blocking off several seats or completely isolating rows. It is also mandatory for guests to wear a mask. If an individual does not have one, then they can receive one from the Townsend Center staff.

“These are difficult times we currently live in, and we have done our best to ensure that we are effectively making sure our students and community are safe,” said Emereje.

Student turnout for the screenings has been increasing with each event. CSI plans to showcase one last movie before the end of the semester. Information about the next film screening will be announced through email and social media.

“We are always hoping for a huge turnout and planning to serve, engage, and provide opportunities for students on the weekends here at UWG,” said Emereje. “So, we would love and are prepared for a big crowd and are more than happy to welcome anyone with a great film, cool novelties and a nice movie style treat for this screening.

“We would love to continue this and maybe see this initiative grow into a tradition or regular experience as seen on other campuses,” continued Emereje. “What this medium will look like always varies. I think that it would be cool to potentially see this as a drive-in theatre format or more love valley screenings.”