The grass on the BU Beach was barely visible beneath the hundreds of blankets at Friday night's drive-in movie, one of the Student Activities Office's largest annual events.
Groups of friends, floor residents and club members staked out patches of lawn to get the best view of the screen and new freshmen mingled with upperclassmen before the screen flashed with two recent summer releases, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Madagascar.
The event, hosted by the Student Activities Office, was part of the welcome back weekend, during which the university held events to welcome back upperclassmen and to welcome new students.
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Rob Foster not only cheered for the movie, but also for making it through the first week of classes. "It wasn't so bad," he said. "I managed to survive."
Students said they were relieved the weekend had finally arrived and celebrated on the beach.
"What a great way to cap off the first week - some great movies and a chance to meet my classmates," College of Arts and Sciences freshman Alyssa Demirjian said.
Several resident assistants used the movies as a floor event, taking their residents to the Beach and providing snacks.
Undergraduate senior Brianna Ficcadenti, a Warren Towers RA, brought about 50 of her residents to the movie as the first floor event.
"It was my first floor activity as a freshman," she said. "I remembered it as being a lot of fun, plus there was free food [when I went]."
Several hundred students attended sitting on blankets and towels. Many brought along sweatshirts and other blankets as the wind came in off the Charles River and brought a chill to the fall air.
The SAO projected the films onto a portable screen at the end of the lawn.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith started at 8 p.m. and featured Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as assassins, and Madagascar began around 10 p.m., featuring the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith.
The movie showing was one of the first and largest SAO events of the year, following a week of promotion and advertising.
A large portion of the crowd left after the first movie, but more than 100 stayed until the event ended around midnight.
The event was not only a chance to see movies for free, but to also for freshmen to meet other new students socially.
"It's a great chance to bond with other freshmen," College of Communication freshman Elizabeth Motta said. "There are a ton of people around. Plus, it's free."
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