Every Friday afternoon, students gather at Campustown bars to take part in what has become an Iowa State institution.

On April 10, Corey Walker, senior in community and regional planning, and his Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers are reclining at People’s Bar & Grill, 2428 Lincoln Way, sipping $2 mugs of beer.

Walker and the student-dominated crowd are gathered at People’s for Friday After Class (FAC).

Though it is only 3:30 p.m., the rear of the bar is aglow with light from neon signs advertising alcohol.

“FAC is my favorite,” Walker said. “It’s not a meat-market. It’s more laid-back, a way of winding down from a hard week of study.”

Cy’s Roost owner Patrick Greene said FAC has been around since the early ’80s.

“Every bar in campus used to have FAC,” Greene said. “It used to be people would crowd in for FAC and go some other place at night.”

People’s owner Tom Zmolek said the tradition was abandoned for a few years and resurrected in 1989.

“[FAC] just dropped off the face of the earth,” Zmolek said. The revival of interest came when Lumpy’s, then called Underwhere?, provided students with a place to drink and “sing along” with musician Larry Myer after their afternoon classes.

Zmolek said students come to FAC “just to wind down after a long week of school or work.”

Julie Kruse, FAC enthusiast, said she drops about $15 on an average Friday.

“It’s like an awesome stress reliever,” she said.

First-time FACer Garrett Toay, vice president of Government of the Student Body, seemed impressed by the laid-back atmosphere.

“It’s pretty cool — a good place to drink with a friend and relax,” said Toay, junior in agricultural business.

Jay McLaren, senior in agricultural business, said he generally goes to Cy’s Roost, 121 Welch Ave., or Lost & Found Lounge, 121 1/2 Welch Ave., because the atmosphere is more conducive to talking.

“We’ll get a pitcher, and I’ll talk to my friends about the week and the day,” McLaren said.

People’s waitress Macenzie Pollit, senior in zoology, prefers to work the afternoon hours rather than the night shift. She said the patrons, many of them regulars, tend to have more respect during FAC as opposed to the nighttime crowd.

“The students are in a good mood after a long week of classes,” Pollit said.

About 4:30 p.m., the lights are dimmed, and the crowd thickens at People’s. Two members of the Chicago-based band Sauce Monkeys take the stage and begin playing Simon and Garfunkel covers and take requests.

The men from Kappa Sigma start yelling above the crowd requesting Kenny Rogers, Dave Matthews and Hootie and the Blowfish songs.

The Sauce Monkeys take them up on their requests even if it means just playing the chorus.

“I like playing FAC because everyone comes in a good mood. It puts us in a good mood,” said Sauce Monkey Herb Wanblodt. The Sauce Monkeys play FAC once or twice a month, he said.

“We usually get a crowd up on stage,” Wanblodt said.

At one of the band’s FAC performances, a member of the crowd requested the “Star-spangled Banner.” Wanblodt said once they began to play people stood, covered their hearts with their right hands and sang along.

Zmolek said the bands have always been an important part of FAC at People’s. He said many performers become crowd favorites, beginning with Larry Myer. Paul Rebek was popular in the early 1990s, and Paul Wright has been the favorite since 1994, he said.

The key to a crowd-pleasing FAC performance depends, Zmolek said, on the performers ability to interact with the audience and play mostly recognizable song covers.

By 6 p.m., the Sauce Monkeys take a break, and the smell of food wafts through the bar. The men from Kappa Sigma have left to prepare for their nighttime activities and are replaced by a group of dietetics majors.

“One of the things that people tell me is there’s nothing like the feeling of having a great time drinking and realizing it is still light outside,” Zmolek said.