Freshmen and seniors alike enjoyed craft soda and battled it out in several rounds of trivia to learn more about personal safety last Tuesday night.

The Office of Student Conduct, in conjunction with Title IX, hosted its first event this year during Welcome Week, called Pioneer Pub, which took place in Lawrence Hall room 200 from 7-9 p.m.

Pioneer Pub is an annual trivia event where teams answer questions regarding drugs and alcohol usage on campus while enjoying a variety of craft sodas.

Vincent Rugani, Coordinator of Student Conduct, explained that the trivia is based on Point Park knowledge as well as drug and alcohol policies on campus. Trivia questions also cover delicate subjects such as sexual assault and sexual health. These topics are covered to make students more aware and knowledgeable.

“We have a round of trivia based on alcohol and drugs and some of the university policies that can relate,” Rugani said. “We want to make sure they [students] are educated properly and have some knowledge on the subjects of alcohol, drugs and sexual health.”

Megan Thorpe, a senior sports, arts and entertainment management major, recalls trivia questions during Pioneer Pub in previous years that were more tailored to alcohol and sexual assault.

“The trivia questions are related to the Think About It course that all incoming freshmen are required to take,” Thorpe said.

She also said that as a Pioneer Ambassador, she encouraged freshmen students during orientation to come out to all events hosted during Welcome Week and to get involved within the Point Park community.

Students found 25 different flavors of soda at the craft soda bar, from classic Cherry Cola to the eccentric Zombie Brain Juice.

Thorpe remembers previous years when people kept coming up to try various offbeat flavored sodas.

“There’s a crazy amount of sodas!” Thorpe said. “There’s a bunch of weird flavors.”

Rugani said he purchased about 25 different flavors, but in total, about 300 different bottles of soda were employed.

As the event progressed and the stakes for winning prizes got higher and higher, so did the energy level in the room. Students were shouting out answers – even wrong ones – and singing along to the music that was playing overhead.

Jessie Notarius, a senior scenic design major, said that even though Pioneer Pub is targeted towards freshmen, she has always enjoyed coming for the atmosphere.

“It’s still a lot of fun,” Notarius said. “The whole room just singing terrible karaoke – that was a lot of fun.”

Senior dance and costume design double major Catherine Huffman believes that Pioneer Pub is good for the entire Point Park community.

“Pioneer Pub is one of those classic events where even if you aren’t a freshman, you can enjoy it,” Thorpe said, mirroring Huffman’s belief.

Rugani was named the Coordinator of Student Conduct in July 2018. Pioneer Pub was Rugani’s first event on campus.

“I’m excited that it’s a great turnout and I’m excited to host other events for alcohol and drug education as well as with Title IX to keep students aware and educate them more,” Rugani said.