Fat Tuesday celebration set for the OSU Student Union

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Food, music and fun planned for Mardi Gras festivities at the union

Enjoy a little piece of New Orleans during a Mardi Gras celebration that will feature authentic food and fun, starting Tuesday morning, Feb. 17, in the Student Union at Oklahoma State University.  A brass band, a second line parade, specialty menu items, and a Taste of New Orleans program are scheduled for the day-long event.

Now in its fourth year, the campus celebration is the creation of Christine Crenshaw, undergraduate admissions director, who joined the OSU family in September 2009. Crenshaw developed a love for New Orleans culture after her daughter moved to the “birthplace of jazz.”  That passion grew after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and continued after she made the move to Stillwater.

“As I became more familiar with OSU, I happily recognized that celebrations, cultural appreciation and community building are encouraged,” Crenshaw said. “So we had our own Mardi Gras celebration in the enrollment management unit in 2010. A year later, the idea emerged to take it university-wide. 

This year’s festivities start Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 11 a.m. with the Seretean Center Brass Band in the Student Union Atrium. Everyone is invited to follow the band for the second line parade, which will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Undergraduate Admissions office and continue to weave through the atrium’s first and second floors. 

After the parade, guests will be encouraged to sample some of the authentic items on the menus in the Student Union Food Court.  The Student Union Activities Board will close the festivities with its Taste of New Orleans crawfish boil at 7 p.m. in the Starlight Terrace. Admission to that event is $5 and is limited to 100 people.  

The Mardi Gras celebration is made possible by campus partners that include the Student Union, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the OSU Music Department, University Dining Services and Student Union Activities Board.

For more than 64 years, thousands of OSU students, alumni, faculty and staff have visited the Student Union every day, making it a central part of university life.  The building hosts many diverse programs and provides an array of services, including a wide selection of eateries and retail outlets. For more information about the Student Union and the Mardi Gras celebration, visit its website at union.okstate.edu. The Student Union can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube with the user name osuunion.