This fall there will be no excuse for students to sit in a dorm room trying to keep that sacred parking spot.

Downing University Center is putting together a plethora of activities – like movie nights and coffeehouse concerts – that will bring all the fun of off-campus entertainment back to the Hill.

The first evening to mark on the calendar is August 23, when Student Activities hosts the Welcome Back Bash on the fourth floor of DUC. There will be games, food and giveaways. The party starts at 7 p.m. and lasts until 11 p.m.

There are also several regularly scheduled activities planned. On Tuesdays, the Starbucks Coffeehouse will have live music starting at 6 p.m. and “Movie Nights” will be Thursdays at 7 p.m., said Bennie Beach, Student Activities program director.

“Movie Nights” will have a wide range of genres including classics like “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Ben Hur” along with modern favorites like “Titanic,” “Dune,” “Forrest Gump” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”

The first “Movie Night” will be Thursday. The featured films are “From Hell” starring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham, and “The Silence of the Lambs” starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

The movie schedule is listed outside the Student Activities offices on the third floor of DUC. Students get in for free with their Big Red card.

Lauren Krieble, a freshman from Terre Haute, Ind., thinks the free movies are a great idea. She’d already gone out in Bowling Green on a Thursday evening and thinks that Movie Nights might be a better plan.

“There’s nothing really going on, on Thursdays,” she said.

Other calendar-worthy activities are the tailgate parties scheduled before home football games.

The first party will be on Sept. 7 before the Western vs. Kentucky State game. Skip Bond and The Fugitives, a local band, will be on hand providing music.

Not everything being planned is just for entertainment. On September 13 and 19, the Career Services Center is co-sponsoring “Your Road Map to Success” on the third floor of DUC between 5 and 6 p.m.

On October 16, there will be a Driving Under the Influence simulator in DUC lobby between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Beach said Student Activities is not finished planning fall activities, so students should keep in mind that there may be other event they won’t want to miss.

Hebron freshman Chelsey Pelfrey said she didn’t know about the activities yet, but is looking forward to finding out what’s planned.

“Seems like there’s always something going on,” she said.

Herald reporter Katharyn Doak can be reached at [email protected]