A Blast to the Past: Athletics Department succeeds with their first ever theme night.

      Here at Eastern University, Dan Mouw is the Director of Athletic Communications. His title consists of many different jobs relating to Eastern’s athletic department to help create the best possible environment for athletes to thrive in and Eastern’s body to become part of the experience. On any normal day you can find Director Mouw updating the athletic website, planning game programs, keeping statistics, photographing games and sharing events on social media.

      Dan Mouw is the guy behind the scenes creating an efficient atmosphere possible for our Eastern Athletic events. He believes the best possible atmosphere includes a large amount of the student body coming out to the events. “The more fun events Athletics can have, then more relationships and opportunities will arise for the Eastern’s body to take part in,” states Mouw.

      Even though Women’s Volleyball lost to John Hopkins on September 21. Although, it didn’t feel like  much of a loss as the entire gym was filled with the reminiscent of the eighties. The nights theme was “Turn Back the Clock: Eighties Style” and every student was to come to the game in their best eighties outfit. Director Mouw wanted to make sure the Women’s Volleyball team had a large attendance at their home game as “looking at my schedule and noticed that [they] have a huge break between home games. The best way to get the student body to games is to make them different: themes nights.” My question for Dan Mouw was, why the choice of the eighties out of all decades? He noticed the eighties has never really disappeared from culture. One can look at the newest movie adaptations of Predator and Ghostbusters for an example of the eighties in modern culture.

      By bringing together an eighties themed night, it must have taken some planning. I asked Mouw how much planning took place in order to make the night a success. “I was trying to figure out how to make this marketing different from any other game. And I was looking at athlete headshots one day and decided to place one headshot onto an iconic pop culture movie in the eighties. I started laughing at how good it looked and wanted to make more,” stated Mouw. We mentioned how those who saw the movie promotions, shared on EU Athletics Instagram page, would have laughed knowing that some of their friends were being chosen.

      From the very beginning of planning the “Turn Back the Clock” night in late August to after the game, I asked Dan Mouw if he thought the night was successful. “Yes! We had giveaways, we saw amazing throwback outfits, and the crowd was really loud. Overall, a really great success!” Mouw stated smiling. The only regret he mentioned was that the themed night was planned with coffee house going on at the same time.

      With that in mind, I asked if we are going to be seeing similar events happen again in the near future. Mouw answered, “Of course! Anything to get the campus out and about. We have plans for a Halloween themed night at the end of October, most likely October 26th. We have plans for other theme nights during the basketball season.” Mouw is trying to plan different ideas that are cheap and fun while utilizing the athlete’s home games, as we all know a college student’s budget.

      Director Mouw does not want the athletic events to only benefit athletes but the campus as a whole. He wants students to reflect, in years to come, on the fun times they had in college and remember the great events Eastern had available to them. “By generating great enthusiasm, it can bring in perspectives and donors who associate the University with a swell of student pride,” mentions Mouw. “Athletics can be a touchstone for helping Eastern grow. As we continue to excel, we can see some really good things happening to benefit all students.”

      Eastern’s students and staff should be on the lookout and ready to partake in more athletic theme nights in the near future. Let us boost our Eagle pride!