Oakland University residents gathered in Vandenberg Hall on Wednesday for the annual midnight breakfast. This year’s event, which began at 11 p.m., had residents standing in line as early as 8:30 p.m.

By the time the event began, the line snaked all around the building.

Housing administrative staff member Kelly Garnett is in charge of planning the midnight breakfast each year. She said she enjoys planning the event because it is great to see the students relax and socialize together at the end of the year.

“[This event] offers a fun opportunity to come together as a residential community solely for the purpose of socialization,” Garnett said. “[We] believe that our halls are our homes, and the people here are our second families, and nothing makes you feel more like family than sitting around eating waffles in your pajamas in the middle of the night.”

The event differed from years past with the addition of the new cafeteria in downstairs Vandenberg.

While a majority of the food options and entertainment were upstairs in the larger cafeteria, the smaller cafeteria featured some simple foods and make-your-own snow cones.

Chartwells provided the food for the event. It featured a variety of food from broccoli quiche to cinnamon rolls.

While the students munched on their food, they enjoyed music by dueling pianists. After eating, many students danced to the piano versions of well-known pop and hip-hop songs.

Other students enjoyed other forms of entertainment available, including a palm reader, green screened photos and a create-your-own music video station.

The university housing marketing staff collaborated with the Residence Life staff for the event. They were assisted by a volunteer student committee to help come up with ideas for the theme, entertainment and t-shirts.

This year’s midnight breakfast had new challenges because of the 500 additional residents now living in Oak View Hall. Having both the downstairs and upstairs Vandenberg cafeteria’s open helped with this issue.

Vandenberg Hall residence director, Travis Gibler, was pleased with how the event turned out.

“We had great attendance,” Gilber said. “The music went over really well upstairs. Overall, people had a really great time.”

In the midst of the craziest part of the semester, the midnight breakfast was a fun night for students on campus to take a break from the end of semester pressure and enjoy a night with fellow residents.