It’s a Tuesday afternoon and students are heading near the entrance of Library North. There are colorful booths and bake sales set up. Music is blasting great tunes and you see a large crowd of people dancing to the music, talking and laughing. These students have stepped into the atmosphere of Plaza.
Plaza is an event that happens every Tuesday and Thursday on Georgia State’s campus in front of Library North between 12:15-1:00 p.m. There is a musical DJ so students can listen to music. There are booths set up for different organizations to promote themselves and sometimes the Greek sorority and fraternities perform step dancing.
Plaza is a place for students to interact and spend time with their fellow peers. It’s a place for students to chill in between classes and meet up to have a little fun before going back to class, said Gabrielle Burks, Georgia State Film and Video major.
In a survey conducted by The Signal, 100 Georgia State students were asked about how they feel about Plaza. 60 percent of students said that they liked Plaza, 35 percent said they did not like Plaza and 5 percent said neither.
Out of those 100 students 69 percent of students said that they did not believe that Plaza was an event for everyone and 31 percent believed that it was.
“I think it’s good because it’s part of, I guess, the culture of Georgia State because when I go to other schools like Georgia Tech or Emory, it’s definitely not like that at all but I think it kind of reflects the student population,” said Christine Uwu, Georgia State art education major.
Some students feel too many students are in the small area where Plaza is held. Other students trying to get to class get frustrated because the area is consumed with a large number of people.
“When it comes to getting to class on time, I really think plaza is a really big road block. I say that because…whenever Tuesdays and Thursdays come around and it’s time for us to go to our next class we have to take shortcuts in order to get there. We can’t even go through plaza because it’s so packed wall to wall with people,” said Amber Turner, Georgia State psychology major.
The percentage of students that think Plaza is important to the Georgia State culture is 69 percent. Students surveyed also thought that Plaza brought diversity, a way to express themselves and gives students a much needed break.
