Late night activities get rebranded by Carolina After Dark

Tonight, instead of parties with alcohol, students can go to the Eddie Smith Field House for Carolina After Dark.

A student-led group, Carolina After Dark throws substance-free parties, is hosting its second event of the semester tonight at 9 p.m. 

Senior Dustin Kavanaugh started the initiatve earlier this semester to provide an inclusive party spot for all students. 

“Just an atmosphere where no one gets turned away,” Kavanaugh said. “It doesn’t matter what friends you have at a particular party, so you can get in.”

Kavanaugh said Carolina After Dark started as a way to prevent issues like underage drinking and sexual assault.

He said once he had the idea for Carolina After Dark, he approached University officials for help to get it off the ground.

“I just met with lots of different departments, reached out, proposed the idea, took different parts of the mission and related it to the University, and tried to get people to join along,” Kavanaugh said.

Student Wellness was one of the departments who responded to Kavanaugh, along with the Athletic Department, which allows Carolina After Dark to happen in the Eddie Smith Field House free of charge.

Carolina After Dark is financed partially by Student Wellness and also by an anonymous donation.

“There has been an anonymous donor who created a series of funds to support late night, non-alcoholic events and we were one of the first events to access those funds,” Kavanaugh said.

According to the Facebook event, organizers will give out vouchers for free doughnuts, burgers and grilled cheese from food trucks at tonight's party. 

Carolina After Dark is not an official student organization through the University and it is important to Kavanaugh that it remains that way. Kavanaugh said he wants the initiative to remain unaffiliated so it will belong to students.

“We hope that it will maintain a grassroots feel and I think to do that most effectively, we don’t want it to become an organization just so that it feels like everyone has a part of it,” Kavanaugh said.

Rachel Grotheer, a member of the marketing committee for Carolina After Dark, works to inform people about when the events are held and hopes they will be held every other week in the future.

Grotheer said she was interested in Carolina After Dark because of its casual setting and how it fosters new friendships.

“I was really interested in it because it’s a great way for anyone in the school to come out and have a good time without feeling excluded,” Grotheer said.

Kaitlyn Newman attended her first event after hearing about Carolina After Dark through friends and organizations.

“It was a fun environment with a lot of new people, a lot of faces that I hadn’t seen before,” Newman said. “It was an easy way to talk to new people.”

Newman said she enjoyed Carolina After Dark because of how it brought people together and offered an alternative to other party scenes in Chapel Hill.

“I think (the events) are good for the community and I think they grow the UNC community as a whole and offer great opportunities for every Carolina student, despite their background,” Newman said.

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