Students have wild time at Vol Night Long

Every year, students attend the Vol Night Long event hosted by UT’s Central Programming Council’s Campus Entertainment Board (CEB), to forget about their scholarly duties.

This year the event was held on Friday, Jan. 24 from 10 p.m.-2 a.m in the TRECs. The theme was ‘where the wild things are’ and featured exotic animals as well as several inflatable games.

These games included a jousting ring where students could hit each other with large inflated tubes and a surfing area where your balance could be tested by a mechanical board made to simulate a surfboard on a wave.

Large groups of people huddled around a sizable collection of exotic animals. Everything from a fuzzy chinchilla to an immense boa snake were showcased during the event. William Hoffman, president of Animal Rentals and owner of the animals on display stated that there were at least half a dozen different animals. Hoffman works closely with the animals.

“All of these are mine and they all grew up with me,” Hoffman said.

As a safety measure demanded by the federal government, many of the animals on display were chained back by leashes, preventing them from freely roaming about. Hoffman insisted that the animals are not harmed or stressed by the restrictions. However, one student couldn’t help but feel differently.

Yury Sidorov, a first time attendee of Vol Night Long, didn’t approve of the animal confinements.

“I sort of felt sorry for the animals that are chained, especially for the cat, because I know cats don’t like being chained,” Sidorov said.

Despite the confinements, Hoffman reassured everyone that the animals were fine. Students continued to engage in activities at Vol Night Long with the exotic animals and inflatable games. For more campus events, click here.

Edited by Jessica Carr