Nights on the Prowl

by Haylee Barber

If you belong to the 21 and up crowd at Chapman, you’re probably familiar with the Thursday night routine. Meet up with friends, head to “the bars”- Paul’s and The District, rinse and repeat one week later.

Like most party scenes at Chapman, Thursday night is full of familiar faces and places. You may have passed Glen, a bouncer, on your way into the District. You’ve probably ordered a pitcher from Tish Pabst, the manager at Paul’s.

What you might not know, however, is that you can order a “Glen“ at Starbucks in the Orange Circle, and that Pabst has been serving pitchers at Paul’s for more than a decade.

“I’ve been going there for so long,” said Glen, laughing, “Now at night when I want a Starbucks I just have my guys order me the Glen. Anyone can order it, it’s delicious.”

While Chapman may not have the biggest or baddest bar scene, it is certain to provide the same small, communal fun that characterizes the university.

“The only time I don’t go out on Thursdays is if I’m deathly ill,” said Brittany Johnston, a senior. “I’m sure that sounds bad, but I just love seeing everyone, and it’s the best night for that.”

It’s easy to see everyone when most students are condensed to just two bars on the same block.

University of Colorado has more than 22 bars just beyond its campus, and California State Fullerton’s downtown has a doze-plus bars to choose from on any given evening, according to online student forums.

In Orange, however, the scene is much more concentrated. Some bar owners may see the concentration of college students to just two local bars as an overwhelming experience.

But in Orange, they don’t mind.

“Thursday night is like a pub crawl to me,” said Tony Domazet, manager of The District. “It’s like an alarm rings in every student’s head at midnight that it’s time to come out.”

Paul’s manager, Tish Pabst, also laughed about how students come and go in a quick and timely fashion on Thursday nights.

“Thursday nights happen very fast,” said Pabst. “We wait, the kids come, we are completely bombarded, and then everyone is gone.”

But the real Thursday night star is Glen. (He has asked that his last name not be used.) For the past four years, Glen has manned the door at the District and befriended Chapman students.

“Glen is the big strong, protective teddy bear of Thursday nights,” said senior Kendra Fox.

Though most Chapman students see Glen only in his Thursday night bouncing prime, they may not know much about him outside of the bar scene.

The face of Thursday night is also an insurance broker and former college football player. And he is well-known, and well-loved, by the Chapman community.

He doesn’t mind us, either.

“The Chapman students who come here on Thursday nights are fun loving kids who wanna have a good time,” said Glen. “The thing I love about Thursday nights is there’s rarely a fight. Chapman kids can be a bit pretentious but they are all nice kids.”

As the Orange community becomes less tolerant of Chapman’s house parties, the Thursday evening midnight parade remains a surefire scene for fun.

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