First-year event draws students with fun, food

Freshmen came together last night to celebrate their first successful semester at Kent State.

Dining Services hosted its first-ever “Big Freakin’ Party” from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. last night at the Eastway Center.

To start the night off, Autumn Pillar, director of marketing for Dining Services, rode around on a motorized toilet, smiling and laughing. She was testing them out for the toilet bowl races that would be taking place later in the evening.

In spirit of the Super Bowl, free samples of chips and dip were handed out under a tent with the Steelers’ name and logo on it. While some students got free samples, others went straight to the mechanical bull. Students cheered each other on as they tried their best not to be thrown off.

Zane Powell, assistant director of marketing for Dining Services, said the party was being thrown for freshmen to congratulate them for surviving their first semester. He said a student’s first college semester is probably the hardest one to adjust to, and he wanted students to have a good time.

“It’s just a celebration, nothing else really behind it,” Powell said.

As music started playing, more students walked down a red carpet to receive free medals that read: “I did it. I survived my first semester.”

“Our goal is to let freshmen know that we appreciate their hard work,” Powell said.

Sarah Gilbert, sophomore electronic media production major, said she thought the party was pretty cool, but she wished they had it last year when she was a freshman.

“I understand they have stuff for freshmen, but they’ve had enough. It would be cool if they had something for everyone,” Gilbert said.

Although some upperclassmen felt left out, the freshmen were excited that they were being recognized for making it through their first semester.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Brian Clark, freshman computer information systems major. “From what I’ve seen so far, I’ll definitely stay at Kent.”

Contact room and board reporter Kristyn Lebovitz at [email protected].