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More than 1,000 ping pong balls poured over the rooftop of Patterson Office Tower Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the end of the semester. 

More than 100 students stood below, collecting as many balls as they could with plastic bags, opened book bags and umbrellas.

The event was restarted in 2006 by UK Student Activities Board and is managed by the traditions committee. 

“It’s something that we want to do to bring the campus closer together,” said Colin Ogle, vice president of Promotions with UKSAB. “Closer to the end of the year something like this does relieve stress and give people a break from the grind of dead week.”  

Ogle said that they want students to be able to socialize and feel sustained through the tests and projects they have this week, in addition to participating in an event where students from different colleges can vie for prizes.

“You see people from all different walks of the campus coming together to see a thousand ping pong balls drop,” Ogle said.

The balls had colors on them symbolizing different prizes. Green stickers for the smallest prizes, head phones or flashdrives,and red for the medium prizes, which were tumblers, or speakers. The two grand prize colors were black, which was a pair of Beats headphones and blue, which was an Apple TV. Both winners of the grand prizes were asked to sign a waiver.

Prizes were to be picked up outside of Bowman’s Den, but after 1 p.m. SAB was giving out tumblers to anyone with a student I.D.

This was integrated strategic communication junior Loretta Stafford’s third year attending the event, and she said that she comes to these events to unwind before upcoming finals. 

“It’s mostly just pretty to watch, in the middle of your pre-dead week stress it’s a way to stop and have your happiness,” Stafford said. 

The point of the event is to bring students of all campus paths together.

“I put it in my planner three months ago,” mathematical economics senior Denise Applegate said. She has not attended the event before, but thought it was too interesting to miss.

Previously the events coincided with the Little Derby Festival, UK’s way of celebrating the coming of spring and the Kentucky Derby.