Wilkes University’s Programming Board has scheduled fun events and activities to kick off the 2012 fall semester. “We have a really enthusiastic board, and a lot of freshmen are interested in joining so there should be a good turnout. Our events are every Thursday, so hopefully we will keep building a bigger and bigger audience and keep the momentum going,” said Jessica Short, president of Programming Board.

The first event, a barbecue and scavenger hunt, took place on Thursday, Sept. 6. The barbecue started at 7 p.m. right outside the first floor of the SUB near the parking lot.

The scavenger hunt was a photo scavenger hunt and began shortly after the barbecue at 7:30 p.m. Students were placed in teams of five and used their cameras or a camera phones to photograph different things around campus based on the clues. The hunt ended at 8:30 p.m., with the winners announced at 8:45 p.m. Prizes were given to the top three teams, so each member of the first team received a $30 Visa Gift Card, each member of the second team received a $25 Visa Gift Card and each member of the third team received a $20 Visa Gift Card. In the event that there was a tie, the prize would have been given to the team who was done first.

Fall Fest Weekend is a three day-long event run by Student Development, Student Government, Inter-Resident Hall Council, Commuter council, Off-Campus Council and MSC. It will go from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 21. Thursday night will be Movie in the Marts, which is sponsored and run by IRHC; Friday night is the battle ball game, which is a mix of laser tag and paintball. For more information on battle ball, check out the website www.notpaintball.com. On Saturday there will be a carnival-like event, which will be sponsored by all the groups. Times of these other events will be announced shortly.

As of right now, the Powderpuff Football game is tentatively going to be held in either Ralston Field or UCOM. This event is going to be on Sep. 27 at 7 p.m., and signups will be on Sept. 11 in the SUB. Students will sign up by class, with freshman first.

Grocery Bingo, which will be held on Thursday, Oct. 18, starts at 8 p.m. in the first floor of the SUB. This will be the same style as regular bingo, except baskets of food will serve as prizes, which include everything needed to make different meals. There will also be baskets that are quick, easy and microwavable.

On Thursday, Oct. 25, there will be a Halloween party at the UCOM. Activities include a roller-skating rink, which will be brought into the UCOM, a costume party and a costume contest.

“This one is my favorite,” Short said of the Halloween party.

The fun has only just begun, so join in while you can!