Students gathered on the ground floor of Norris University Center on Thursday afternoon to attend the Norris 50th Celebration Blow Out. The event commemorated the 50th anniversary of the student center’s opening in 1973. 

Norris has hosted multiple “Throwback Thursday” events since Fall Quarter, each themed around one of the decades since Norris was built. The center hosted celebrations of the 1970s and the ’80s in the fall, followed by a ’90s-themed event in Winter Quarter. Thursday’s commemoration, the final event of the series, paid homage to the 2000s.

Norris Assistant Director of Facilities and Operations Meredith Ciesemier said each event was intended to show students what life at the University Center was like during several of the past five decades.

“Norris plays a pretty important role in the campus community,” Ciesemier said. “We’re celebrating that landmark milestone in fun and engaging ways for students with these kinds of throwback decade events.”

The Thursday event incorporated a Star Wars theme with decorations like a cardboard cutout of a stormtrooper and a miniature model of R2-D2. Attendees each received one raffle ticket for a chance to win one of 50 grand prizes, including Digimon Cards and Star Wars and Mandalorian-themed items, books and music albums. 

At the event, people could also spin a prize wheel and enter a draw to win items like an Amy Winehouse vinyl.

“It’s not really a Star Wars theme event. It just happened to occur on May the Fourth, so we included some Star Wars themes,” Norris Recreation Services and Programming Program Manager Linda Luk said.

Organizers targeted the event toward Northwestern faculty, staff and students, as well as the general public. 

Norris Event Planning Coordinator Katie Jefferis said the blow out aimed to create engagement among the entire NU and Evanston communities. 

“It’s a great way to celebrate Norris as not just a place but also a community,” Jefferis said.

Norris staff also prepared concessions for attendees. Delicacies offered included broccoli tofu stir fry, chicken stir fry, popcorn and a nacho bar complete with ground beef, vegan chorizo, guacamole and cheese.

According to Luk, the blow out also offered vanilla nut milk tea since milk and bubble tea became popular in the 2000s. 

In accordance with the 2000s theme, activities centered on the past two decades. Attendees played trivia and sang 2000s-themed karaoke tracks, including pop hits such as “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus and “Starships” by Nicki Minaj. 

At another station, attendees could paint their own frisbees. 

“I don’t have a frisbee, and I wanted a frisbee,” Weinberg junior Sophie Konde said. “I used the lesbian flag colors.” 

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