The television show Friends became iconic throughout the years it was aired. However, students and young adults still enjoy the show’s reruns even today.

The Student Activities Board hosts an event annually around the turn of the season. This year, the board threw a ‘Friendsgiving’ event, which provided an experience where students could come and enjoy Thanksgiving episodes of the show Friends with other students and food.

Students were able to come to the Worsham Cinema in the Gatton Student Center on Tuesday, November 19, from 6 pm to 10 pm, partake in Friends episodes and provided snacks.

This event was an opportunity to unite the UK student body, giving a safe space for new friendships to grow.

The Board chose this date to allow the celebration to be as close to the Thanksgiving holiday as possible. The Student Activities Board chose a date the week before break so that students were in the mood to celebrate, but before students left the campus.

“Last December, we actually had a holiday office party which is where we watched all of the holiday episodes of The Office,” said sophomore SAB Co-director of Campus Life Jeremy Middleton.

“I was kind of playing off of that and wanted to find a TV show that would also relate to a holiday or something going on campus,” Middleton said. “We looked into a couple different shows and ‘Friends’ was a show that kind of had a lot of different episodes that were relating to Thanksgiving so that’s why we decided to do it.”

The board plans a semester in advance for each event, in order to have ample time to make sure each event goes smoothly. According to Middleton, the event was easy to plan after obtaining rights to play the show at UK. UK also helped with providing food, such as popcorn, brownies and cookies as well as granting access to the cinema to screen the episodes.

“I think it’s just to get more people involved on campus and give them a break from studying,” said junior Taylor Bell. “I picked this one because I like friends and the snacks. Also, I thought it was good to bring everyone together before Thanksgiving and going home because they get to spend time with their friends.”

This event gave students an ability to take a break from homework or other extra-curriculars to hang out with friends while doing something that the student body commonly shares an interest in. Bell discussed how students are able to come and view the show, no matter any student’s background to create a community, even if for one night.

“I think it just gives people a way to hang out with their friends and not have to really pay anything for it, just something free and fun to do,” said junior Bree Southard.

The Student Activities Board hosts many events throughout the semester, including the Friendsgiving event. The Board’s ultimate goal is to foster a new and open environment where people can meet peers and enjoy the event.