Matador Nights, the popular late night student event, is coming back to CSUN on April 27 with increased security after it was cancelled in Spring 2011 due to an altercation between two students.
The event, which is designed to be created, themed and implemented by students, has entertained students with everything from inflatable bounce houses to carnival games and rides, and has had themes such as Hawaiian, Western and extra-terrestrials, according the University Student Union website.
The Spring 2011 Matador Nights event saw thousands of attendees, but was shut down prematurely by the USU because of a confrontation between two students.
The fight broke out on April 23, 2011 at about 12:20 a.m. Two unidentified male suspects were detained by police officers as they asked all event goers to evacuate the premises. One suspect was knocked unconscious for about 10 minutes but was later revived.
“Safety is our most important consideration,” said Shanell Tyus, USU events manager.
The increasing popularity of Matador Nights has brought additional challenges, Tyus said.
“With an event that continues to grow, we ask ourselves, ‘How do we entertain thousands of students and also keep them safe?’” Tyus said.
Matador Nights was originally designed as an alternative to weekend programming and a way to help students avoid the pressures of drinking, Tyus said.
“We wanted an event where alcohol was not the focus,” she said.
The event has grown from 500 students in multiple installments in the past, to a single event that had more than 4,500 people in attendance, according to Tyus.
This April Matador Nights will be held exclusively for CSUN students, according to Danyial Motiwala, a public relations assistant at the USU.
“We’re not allowing any non-CSUN students to attend,” Motiwala said.
The USU made this decision with student safety in mind, he added.
The USU will work in collaboration with Allied Barton, an outside security company, and personnel from CSUNPD to ensure safety, according to Motiwala. In addition, a three-checkpoint system will help ensure security.
“A checkpoint at the beginning of the line will check for student IDs and event tickets, and a middle checkpoint will ensure that no students jumped the line and that no alcohol was snuck in,” Motiwala said.
The third and final checkpoint at the entry gate will involve a bag check, he added.
The increased security measures are simply a way to ensure that students are safe and enjoy themselves, which is ultimately what Matador Nights is about, Motiwala said.
“Matador nights has a party atmosphere. It’s a way for CSUN students to have fun and relax in a safe environment,” he said.
The event is free to CSUN students and will take place in Plaza del Sol and the Northridge Center Room of the USU complex on Friday, April 27 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Tyus encourages CSUN students to attend and described the theme of the event as “a night of transformation.”
