The Memorial Union Ballroom was dimly lit. The neon glow of tables scattered out from where dealers dealt out card hands, as the sound of live jazz competed with the clattering of chips and the murmur of voices.

“I mean, just the fact that it’s a collaboration is new for us,” Gabbi Gomez, RHA’s Media and Social Activities Coordinator, said in response to this being RHA’s first year working a Casino Night in partnership with OSUPC. 

She said that RHA has hosted this event by itself for the past 20 years.

“I think we’ve had a band before, but not in a few years. So I was able to bring on a band, which was really fun, and ​​kind of put my own spin on it, which was the Lotus Casino Night idea,” said Gomez.

Jada Tanner, the RHA president, spoke about the number of students at the event. 

“Last year we had about 500-ish people, and we’re expecting a little more this year,” Tanner said.  “But I think what’s most exciting is seeing everybody come out and just have fun, like a pretend casino, and seeing how serious people take it, how competitive and how much fun they have.”

Lauryn Feldman, OSUPC’s marketing intern, shared about OSUPC’s excitement in joining together with RHA on this project.   

“From what I’ve heard in past years, collaboration between organizations has been a little bit more difficult, and so what OSUPC is really trying to do is utilize all of our contacts and really just put our hand in every basket that we can,” Feldman said.

Feldman then went on to explain what this connection means to OSUPC and its future goals.

“So you’re really getting the whole entire OSU community involved, from the staff to the students,”  she explained. “​​And everyone has a very different following, and so being able to bring all these organizations together really helps uplift everyone else in the process.”

Augie Schoonveld, a fourth-year History major, shared his student experience at the Lotus Casino Night.

“Well, RHA, they find all these great events for students to come out and they’re meant to enrich the Oregon State experience,” Schoonveld said.

He also added that many campus events don’t include live music, which this evening did. 

“This is a really successful event.” Schoonveld said.

Shawn Durr, a fourth-year Biohealth major, was with Schoonveld at the same card table. 

“I think it’s awesome that you don’t have to pay to get in,” Durr said. “I can just come on my own accord, I don’t have to pay anything, I just get to hang out.” 

Whether or not RHA will work in partnership with OSUPC again is unknown at this time, but Gomez said that the association will be continuing their 20-year tradition and plans to have a Casino Night, once again, next Winter term.

At the end of the night, Hunter Riccardelli, a PhD student in applied economics, who was also the guitarist for the night’s band, said, “It’s nice to see the university hosting this continuous thing for decades… It brings some community together that’s needed.”