It is only a matter of time before the buildings of the Thomas van Aquinostraat (TvA) will be part of history. Before it will really be gone, students are lucky enough to get a chance to party in this concrete labyrinth at the TvA Tribute on Wednesday, January 17.
Original text: Vincent Veerbeek
Translation: Sander Nederveen
There will be a wide range of activities to choose from that evening, including laser gaming, escape rooms, and a silent disco. After years of daydreaming about an event like this, students and staff have finally come together to organize this grand spectacle. ‘Back when talks about moving the faculties first began, there were already plans to organize something during the last week’, says Bjorn Teeuwen, employee at the Nijmegen School of Management (NSM) and co-organizer of the TvA Tribute. ‘Paintball was discussed often, but that would cause too much of a disruption, which is why we have chosen for laser gaming.’
Laser gaming and partying
As TvA 3 and 5 are to be demolished first, the activities will take place there. ‘Laser gaming will be done in TvA 5’, Teeuwen explains. ‘One team gathers in the main hall, the other one at the bridge between Tva 3 and Tva 5, and then they need to find each other from there. Most of the furniture will be gone by that time, but we might put some things in there. When it is all empty it is less fun, because then the hallways will just be long and open.’ When students are done playing with their laser guns, they can enjoy themselves in TvA 3 for food, drinks, and other entertainment. ‘TvA 3 will be the central location,’ Teeuwen says. There will be a bar, a food corner, a mechanical bull, and a live band. ‘The intention is to create a festival atmosphere, a bit like the Campusnacht.’
Spectacle for everyone
A lot of students are also involved with the organization of the event. All five study associations from the NSM and three from the Faculty of Social Sciences are participating, as well as Nijmegen Student Sports Council, in light of their lustrum. The students are responsible for a large part of the organization, and they will also help on the evening itself, by taking care of activities such as standing behind the tap or checking tickets. There is also a lot of enthusiasm about the TvA Tribute outside of the faculties involved. Hundreds of people have expressed interest through the Facebook event, and at the first ticket sale last Wednesday, over 150 tickets were sold for laser gaming. ‘The maximum number of tickets that we can sell is 400, but then all time slots will be filled with teams of 20’, Teeuwen says. The rest of the event will for the most part be freely accessible. Teeuwen hopes it is going to be a university-wide success, so alumni and Radboud-staff are more than welcome.