With 6,000 lbs of crawfish, fun, food and games the Student Programming Association will once more sponsor Crawfish Day to liven up the spring semester for students at Nicholls campus.
This year’s Crawfish Day promises to be filled with many events such as a hard site rock wall, water tag, a radar speed pitch and, instead of the traditional band, there will be a live D.J.
According to James Irwin, the current SPA president, the DJ that will be Rob Smith from the House of Blues in New Orleans. There will be tarot card readings, a tattoo artist, character artist and palm reader present for the big day.
Besides the enormous amount of crawfish, there will also be hamburgers provided by the Food Advisory Association, cotton candy and snowballs provided by the Student Government Association.
Irwin said that Crawfish Day began as a crawfish-eating contest in 1981. Alfred Delahaye, professor of emeritus of mass communication, said the first official Crawfish Day was held in the 1982 Spring Semester.
“In the beginning, students boiled the crawfish, placed them in sacks and put them into the cafeteria freezer; however, this was proven dangerous. Now the University hires an official contractor to prepare the crawfish safely. Also, in the early days, students were allowed to bring guests,” Delahaye said.
Another strange tradition that was derived from Crawfish Day was “Crawfish man”.
Charles Boutwell who was a general studies major dressed like a crawfish to promote this event that the SPA would be holding for the first time.
Eugene Dial, vice president of student affairs, said that he has attended 17 Crawfish Days and the event has gotten bigger every year. He said Crawfish Day used to just be crawfish and a few bands and now Crawfish Day offers so many more activities.
“It is a wonderful tradition and is the single most attended activity here at the University. Crawfish Day gives students and staff the opportunity to interact in an informal setting. Also Crawfish Day is a good way to celebrate college life,” Dial said.
The event was so successful in 1982 that it is a 22-year-old tradition unique to Nicholls campus.
“It is outstanding fun. Almost everyone loves crawfish boils and it gives students an excuse to get together to eat crawfish. Crawfish Day has come a long way and expanded to a major event on Nicholls campus,” Delahaye said.
Courtney Ponson, the recently elected SPA president, is in charge of Crawfish Day and thought up the different events for this year’s Crawfish Day.
“I anticipate a lot of fun for Crawfish Day and hope the weather does not stop a lot of people from coming. This event is planned especially for students as a relaxing point especially since it is near the end of the semester and Spring Break is close,” Ponson said.
Crawfish Day is open to all students with seven or more academic hours because they are the ones who pay the SPA self-accessed fees. To attend Crawfish Day students must produce a Nicholls ID and their names will be verified by a list of full-time students provided by University Computer Services.
“I hope students will come out and have a good time because this day is for the students,” Irwin said.