Nico Rivera
Features Editor
On Saturday, Nov. 15, The Underground (UG) hosted a “Speakeasy Party,” complete with snacks and music to set the tone for the night. Wooster Activities Crew (WAC) President Mariah McKenzie ’26 spoke about picking the speakeasy theme. She said, “Right before the semester starts, we have our WAC retreat where we bond together as an org and then we also set the calendar for the fall semester and plan our events in advance. And someone just shouted out a speakeasy night, and it just became a thing.” The Underground set the mood with its dim lighting, the sounds of students and UG staff playing pool and the music of classic crooners such as Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Dean Martin playing in the background.
Dustee Wagner ’29, a member of WAC, talked about their perspective on the UG as a new student. “I just think [the Underground] is really fun. Even though it can be more targeted towards upperclassmen, it’s still really welcoming for underclassmen as well… I think there’s a lot of opportunities for more collaborations.”
McKenzie explained that it was easy collaborating with The Underground to put on events. She explained that “It’s pretty straightforward because our advisor, Sarah Toby, is the boss of The Underground as well. So it’s pretty easy to facilitate those things, and the workers are pretty straightforward and really easy to work with, and very accommodating.”
Lastly, McKenzie talked about putting on future events for students at The Underground. “I think as WAC we try and have events at the UG just to get students to come here. The Underground’s like a really cool spot that people kind of don’t think about, especially because of the fact that it’s kind of far off on campus in comparison to other venues. So we usually try and hold interactive things here. We would love to collaborate with The Underground in the future … even the staff had ideas when they came up with their calendar about specific things they want to do here.”
Ben Witt ’26, one of the students in attendance, spoke about what he enjoyed most from the evening as Frank Sinatra’s cover of “Blue Moon” played through the bar. “The music was great. They had cheese and crackers. I liked the strawberry bruschetta and the elderberry mocktails they had… I had a good time, I’ll be back for sure.”