The Oakland Center was dramatically taken over and transformed into a medieval-themed casino on February 7th as students gathered for Casino Night, one of the largest winter semester events hosted by the Oakland University Student Program Board (SPB).
The annual event drew a massive turnout, with students participating in all types of casino games, raffles and themed activities for the chance to win prizes ranging from electronics to future SPB trips. For many members of SPB, this year’s Casino Night marked a milestone, as it was their first time planning and executing the event.
“This is the majority of the board’s very first Casino Night, because we are a brand-new board,” said Cameron Warshawsky, SPB’s operations director. “I would say we did pretty well and had a good turnout for us all being new and starting from zero.”
Throughout the night, students rotated between games such as blackjack, poker roulette and more earning gold tokens that could be exchanged for raffle tickets. The medieval theme added a unique twist, with costumes and décor enhancing the atmosphere.
Gianna Trasco, a member of the SPB board, said she was pleased with how the event came together.
“I was excited before I came to see everyone’s costumes, and I was really happy with what I saw,” Trasco said.
Camarie Adkins, special events director for SPB said seeing students fully embrace the theme stood out to her. “I loved seeing everyone dressed up and really leaning into the theme,” Adkins said. “When students are excited and engaged like that, it makes all the planning feel worth it.”
Behind the scenes, board members worked long hours to ensure the event ran smoothly. Several organizers arrived around noon and remained on site until after midnight.
“I’m very proud of everything that our board accomplished and put together in the past 12 hours,” one board member said. “It was very organized, and everyone showed up really great.”
SPB organizers said the biggest limitation was not being able to reward every attendee.
“The most negative thing is that we couldn’t give prizes to everybody,” Warshawsky said.
SPB leaders noted that Casino Night evolves each year, with new themes and ideas introduced annually, this is of course SPB’s largest event of the year so that figures.
“This was in my top 7 events from Oakland university. I would agree man!” an excited freshman Alzario Wright, said.
“Everything’s going to change in a positive way, but we didn’t have any issues where we felt like we really need to do better next year,” Warshawsky said.
As the night came to a close, organizers reflected on the sense of accomplishment that followed months of planning.
“It’s a lot of mental preparation, especially knowing you’re going to be here for hours on end,” one board member said. “We’re all very tired, but we want to put on a good show for everyone, and that makes it all worth it.”
