Recently, hip-hop artist Ramriddlz sang his biggest hit “Sweeterman” at UTM. The original creator of the song was relatively unknown until superstar hip-hop artist Drake turned “Sweeterman” into a huge hit. The University of Toronto Mississauga Athletic Council thought it would be creative to play with the name and use it to promote their most recent pub event, calling it “Sweeterpub”.
Andrew Williams, director of health and wellness for UTMAC, explains, “We found that [the theme] fits in with current trends. ‘Sweeterman’ is the song we’re going off; we thought it brought a very fun-loving atmosphere to students. Also, we wanted to do a California girl setup here at the pub to keep the energy alive.”
The only thing missing from the event was Ramriddlz, the guy who inspired the pub event name.
Before students made their way through the obstacle course posed by security, they shared their inspiration for coming to the campus’s second pub night in as many weeks.
First-year students were the primary target of this event. “It looks really fun; they did a good job hyping it up,” says Caryl Delano, a first-year political science student.
Rasha Elfeky, a UTMAC associate, said, “We wanted to do something for everyone at the beginning of the year, bring everyone together and have a great time. We wanted to show [first-year students] who we are and what we’re capable of.”
UTMAC knows it’s a struggle bringing upper-year students to pub nights; the demanding course loads take up many evenings and the limited and lackluster events lead students to spend their leisure time elsewhere.
Mustapha Hashi, UTMAC’s director of public relations and communications, claims that UTMAC sold approximately 400 tickets—tickets sold for 5, 10, or 15 dollars, depending on the time of purchase.
Unfortunately, adding up expenses, UTMAC isn’t able to tackle any specific issues happening in our athletic facilities. “With all the arrangements we purchase, including the DJ, lights, and overall setup we actually don’t gain any money—we end up losing money through ticket sales. If we do end up making more money, we’ll put it towards future events,” says Williams.
First-year students care a lot about having a good time when it comes to pub nights at UTM.
“I feel like if they don’t make the party live enough, they won’t make any money for the party in first place—those parts are critical to bringing people in,” says Delano.
Students danced the night away with strobe lights illuminating the entire dance floor. As midnight approached, males and females separated from their cliques, gathering and dancing together in front of the stage.
As a sober reporter, I observed my surroundings on the dance floor with a unique perspective, unlike any other at Sweeterpub. A young couple caught my eye; the female student seemed to desire some subtle and intimate dancing with her man, but instead of grabbing her and keeping things simple, he bobbed around awkwardly like a chicken. Mr. Casanova kept at it for the course of the entire night—you probably bumped into him. At the end of the evening, I saw the poor girl sitting alone on a pool table with a scowl, probably day-dreaming about dancing with a confident Ryan Gosling.
