I love Ferris State University and Big Rapids.
After hockey and maybe some academic programs, the next nationally known trait of Ferris was and is Ferris Fest. As an out-of-state student coming to Ferris in the fall of 2014, the four things I knew about Ferris were hockey, PGM, stabbings/shootings and Ferris Fest.
The university in all of its pride and glory realized, “Hey, maybe a day where students burn couches and chant ‘U.S.A.’ while excessively drinking is not what we want to be known for, especially when the focus is supposed to be music.”
Renaming Ferris Fest as Music Takes Action was a great decision. Music for a cause is what music has evolved into. But, the transition this year to an indoor concert in March was a less than stellar decision. I mean, the weather Saturday, April 22, was 70 degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky. Really dodged a bullet there.
After the Big Event Saturday, April 22, the students of Ferris State tried their absolute hardest to create the real Ferris Fest of 2017. All Saturday afternoon, people around me were saying, “Ferris Fest is lit at Oakwood, we gotta go.”
Even though the concert happened a month ago, students did their best to make the tradition live on. For this, I’m proud of my student body. No one can deny us our tradition of a late April Ferris Fest.
But once the courtyard became too dense with intoxicated college students and empty Hamm’s cans littering the ground, the Man counter-attacked FF2k17, basically sending a message to the student body reading, “Nah, bro, not this year.”
The Oakwood Townhouses were on lockdown. Security and cops were patrolling the main entrance, racquet facilities entrance, University Park Suites and the back woods borders. No one was about to walk in, and they would make sure of it.
At the main entrance, only Oakwood residents were allowed to enter and no more than one guest was allowed in their car at once. That’s an amazing rule they created. One guest per tenant, no exceptions.
The stories that spread that day were tremendously entertaining. The students fired back by trying to simply sprint past the guards to join the festivities. Some made it, some didn’t.
There were more elaborate attempts, such as hiding in the bushes and trying to crawl their way in. There was the true patience test, such as a resident driving all of their friends in one at a time.
The success stories are cool, but nothing fuels my fire more than hearing someone got tackled by a rent-a-cop while sprinting through the woods into Oakwood.
The best part about all of this is after spending the first half of the day giving back to the community and cleaning up the earth at the Big Event on Earth Day, the rest of the day was spent littering an outdoor courtyard to the point where security and police have to deny entry and eventually shut the entire party down. Not only that, but students were actually outraged by it. Priorities are definitely in the right place.
Happy Earth Day, Bulldogs.