Student Center Programs Council (SCPC) took Tech students “Under The Sea” for GT Night at the Aquarium 2025. This annual spring semester event is widely popular amongst Tech staff, faculty and students, who receive exclusive, after-hours access to the Georgia Aquarium at a discounted price. SCPC estimates over 3,700 tickets sold for last Friday’s event.
Jackets roamed through the aquarium’s various exhibits, admiring the thousands of different fish, mammals and crustaceans on display. Less crowded than during normal operating hours, students were free to mingle in the rotunda, taking photos with Buzz or chatting over late-night snacks at the Coastline Café.
Anthony Ovadje, fourth-year BME, led the planning and organization process for this year’s Night at the Aquarium as SCPC’s new Chair of Atlanta Life.
“Being a chair position, it’s cool to do the behind the scenes work that makes the magic come together the day of, which is pretty fun,” Ovadje said.
This year, SCPC chose a Little Mermaid theme for their promotional materials, photo shoot station and annual scavenger hunt event. Other returning events included the widely anticipated Dolphin Show and Sea Lion Presentation.
Students who were able to get a spot at the Sea Lion Presentation met with three sea lions and their trainers. The trainers showed off a variety of tricks to the enthused crowd such as splashing the front-row seats, flipper acrobatics and screeching out the good word in sea lion.
Ganden Fung, third-year CS, was one of the lucky students who got to witness the spectacle.
“The sea lion show was pretty fun! It’s cool seeing the fish in the tank, but also getting to see the sea lions interact with the audience and trainers,” Fung said.
Students not only enjoyed these beloved exhibits but also experienced new ones that opened at the aquarium this past summer. Aptly named Explorer’s Cove, the two new tactical exhibits host freshwater lake sturgeon and saltwater cownose rays, encouraging students to roll up their sleeves and touch the animals in their natural habitat.
While the aquarium is a great place to learn more about marine life and interact with new underwater creatures, many students also use the night as a relaxing opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new people from campus.
Jennifer Guo, M.S. QCF, explained the unique appeal of going to the aquarium, only surrounded by other Tech students.
“I went a lot as a kid, so I decided, ‘why not?’ Just to see what’s different. Fish are cool but I don’t really have a favorite. I like going around seeing people, so long as people I like are here, that’s cool,” Guo said.
That very reason is a large part of SCPC’s mission to connect the Tech community through exciting events and give students the chance to socialize while making memories outside of the classroom. GT Night at the Aquarium is just one of many throughout the school year that many Jackets, new and old, look forward to every spring.
“I think the reason why the aquarium in particular works, is the location of the school. It’s one of Atlanta’s best things to do in the area, so it makes sense that all the students want to go. It’s one of the best aquariums in the world, even, not just in the Atlanta area. So the main driver of it is [that] it’s a cool space,” Ovadje said.
Although it may feel local to Tech, the Georgia Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the U.S. and a worldwide leader in marine conservation and research. It is also just one of the few to house whale sharks, the largest fish on Earth, and over 500 other species of all shapes and sizes.
“I think the whole thing is pretty cool, that we can just rent out the entire aquarium and just have it for Georgia Tech students. It’s really cool seeing people you know and see on campus then see them at the aquarium,” Fung said.
And while students had the freedom to wander around leisurely, the structure of the transportation systems, show schedules and planned activities ensured a safe night for everyone involved. “It’s pretty well advertised and well organized; it’s pretty fast for once you get here, you get in,” Guo said.
GT Night at the Aquarium, along with other off-campus SCPC events, is a great way for students to connect with the community around local Atlanta and other students. Few opportunities attract such a large amount of the campus to be together in one place, regardless of year or major.
“It’s one of the best event planning roles on campus, which means we get to just put on a lot of cool things that are well known. Every event we do is expertly run and super fun. I think it’s also a really cool way to just meet students and bond with people because when you’re doing cool stuff with cool people, you have fun at the end of the day,” Ovadje said.
If you enjoyed Night at the Aquarium or are interested in more behind-the-scenes work on campus, follow SCPC @gtscpc for upcoming events, ticketing and how to join their team.