Feeling lucky? Student Senate hosts casino night

By: Anastasia Benstead, Assistant Editor-in-Chief

Friday March 21 in the Donnelly Center, Student Senate hosted the first-ever Luck of the Irish Casino Night.

“We knew we wanted to do something during Spring Fest, and something related to Saint Patrick’s Day,” said Fiona Walsh, Senate Chair. “After that, it all just fell into place– what embodies the luck of the Irish more than a casino night?” Walsh said, describing brainstorming the event.

Casino night flyer – photo by aqsenate instagram

Attendance was better than Senate was hoping for, drawing in students from all over campus. “This had a really great turn out,” said student Riley Monahan. “I actually was not even going to go.” Monahan was not the only one with this sentiment. “I only learned about it four hours ago,” said Aseel Jadallah, who expressed that attending had not originally been part of her weekend plans, but was grateful after she arrived.

Other students had been eagerly awaiting the Luck of the Irish Casino Night, citing Senate’s outreach and promotion of the event for their excitement. And they really did go all out; bringing in a third party company to run the casino games, Ireland themed desserts provided by catering services, and prizes provided by various Aquinas departments and alum. “It looks like Ireland threw up on that table,” said Romy McKellar, new member of Student Senate, discussing the abundantly decorated snack table. “I cannot believe they brought in professional dealers, and all of this furniture,” said Jadallah referencing the craps, poker, black jack and roulette tables set up.

Students play black jack and roulette – photos by Anastasia Benstead

Treats provided by catering- photo by Anastasia Benstead

Of course gambling on campus was a concern, but several efforts were made to secure the legality and ethics of the event. Real money was not used for betting, and could be gained in some pretty unusual manners. “If you sing a song, tell a joke, anything, I’ll give you more chips,” said one of the craps dealers. Which students took advantage of this opportunity and could even be seen doing push-ups to stay in the game.

Lucas Mondro and Joe Rush do push ups for more chips – photo by Anastasia Benstead

Additionally, prizes could only be won via raffle. There were 20 different ‘pots of gold’ as they were called, gold bags filled with prizes from a diverse range of campus organizations and even a couple alums. “I’m very proud of all of the names,” said Brigid Avery, Senate faculty advisor, and namer of all the pots of gold. “Straight out of Jersey is probably my favorite.” The bag being referenced included a gift card to Jersey Mike’s sub shop, provided by Student Senate, and two Messi jerseys.

Students were also able to enter into a secondary raffle put on by the pre-health club. “I love pre-health,” said raffle winner Luke Martin.

Luke Martin happy with his prize basket – Photo by Anastasia Benstead

Once all of the gambling ended at 7:45p.m., and all students had to “cash out” and exchange their chips for raffle tickets. They then got to choose where they wanted to put raffle tickets as there was a designated cup for each prize. One of the most coveted prizes was a bag with 4 tickets to a Milwaukee Bucks game with a tour from the Vice President of Sales, also an AQ alumni, after the game. While there were only 20 prizes to be won, “everyone goes home a winner,” said Avery as students were able to grab a small give-away as they left the event.