The First Class Carnival started the 2014/2015 academic year off with a bang… literally. The carnival took place in the North Quad on Monday, August 25th and began with loud thunder, rain and flashes of lightning. It was advertised in advance that the carnival would take place rain or shine. The rain location was the terrace of Helen Ferris Hall, but the rain ended before it was necessary to relocate.
The family-friendly carnival, took place this year for the first time ever, was the product of Student Government and Entertainment Unlimited. Since there has been a decline in attendance to events all across campus, the two organizations teamed up to plan an event unlike anything Ferris has ever seen before with the hopes that more students would want to get involved.
“The majority of events on campus involve the students in a strictly audience-type setting, so we have been trying to do more interactive events to pique interest,” said Aaron Wyse, an EU member involved in coordinating the carnival.
Over 600 people were invited to attend on the event’s Facebook page, 100 of whom RSVP’d that they were attending. It is unclear how many students actually showed up.
In spite of the weather conditions, Wyse said there was still an impressive turn-out. “I don’t know the exact number of attendees, but there was a steady stream of attendees that came out for the food and fun,” Wyse said. “The majority of students that came out seemed to enjoy themselves and a few new students even came to the Entertainment Unlimited meeting that night. I think the carnival was absolutely a success. The weather made it a bit more challenging, but the overall attendance was good and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I think a carnival is a definite possibility for next year.”
There were plenty of foods and games available for the students’ enjoyment. A mix of Entertainment Unlimited and Student Government members were in charge of facilitating the activities at the carnival, which included a face-painting booth, ball toss-style games and vendors offering free cotton candy in different colors/flavors, buttered popcorn, hotdogs and funnel cakes sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Inflatable games were also planned, but were not blown up due to the weather.
Students who are interested in learning more about membership or upcoming events hosted by Entertainment Unlimited, Ferris’s campus event programming board, should visit http://www.facebook.com/ferriseu/ for more information and are welcome to attend meetings, which are held at six pm every Monday in FLITE room 133. Students are also encouraged to stop by to the organization’s office in the terrace of Helen Ferris Hall.
Students interested in learning more about FSU’s student government should visit http://www.studentgov.ferris.edu/.