Dance competitions, milkshake drinking contests and video game tournaments were just a few of the exciting events students were able to participate in at the student lounge grand opening Thursday evening.

While the new student lounge, previously known as the commuter lounge, had been open and running since the start of the semester, it had yet to be formally introduced.

“We just wanted to expose the campus to it. A lot of people had negative opinions about the commuter lounge, and we just wanted to change that,” said Jalainna Placide, a senior communication studies major and a member of Aramark’s Peer to Peer Marketing team.

The updated lounge consists of a juke box and five new game machines, including Pump It, a game similar to Dance Dance Revolution. Three flat screen TVs and game systems were also added to the study room attached to the lounge.

About 80 students attended the grand opening, which included contests and door prizes, including a $25 Copeland’s gift card and the grand prize of an Xbox 360.

Students were given a raffle ticket upon entry and competed in dance competitions and other activities, in an attempt to receive more. The raffle tickets were put in a bucket and prize numbers were drawn throughout the night.

A crowd favorite was the milkshake drinking contest, where students suffered brain freezes as they raced to finish a vanilla milkshake first.

The winner of the grand prize Xbox 360, Macky James, had a unique reasoning behind his winning.

“It was the law of attraction,” said James, a general studies and business marketing junior. “It was just attracted to me.”

The new game machines were supplied by an outside company. The games cost 50 cents, and a percentage of the earnings made by the machines are given to ULM.

“The money we spent was minimal; I’m not exactly sure how much we paid for the flat screens, but we didn’t pay anything for the games,” said Brook Sebren, coordinator of Auxiliary Enterprises.

Students at the opening were excited about the new lounge.

“It makes the room a lot more fun, and it gives the nerds a chance to make more friends,” said Justin Hughes, a freshman mass communications major. “And as a member of the little people’s club, which is an unofficial club by the way, we’re always looking for opportunities to help nerds make more friends,” said Hughes with a smile.