By Lauren Rouleau and Freddie Zamora
Swarms of students waited to be adorned with elaborate beads, masks and trays full of traditional food for the Big Easy’s Mardi Gras celebration Tuesday night. The late-night breakfast in Levine Marketplace had one twist from previous celebrations — President Richard Freeland was there to interact with students.
The first image students came across was Freeland donning a green feathered mask, plastic hat and a handful of beads.
“It’s great that he’s out, getting involved and having fun with the students,” said Miranda Gordon, a freshman finance accounting major.
Freeland could be found smiling, laughing and clapping all throughout the event handing out beads and even judging the pancake flipping contest.
“We just wanted to do something fun,” Freeland said. “It’s been a cold winter, and we all needed a little laugh and let our crazy side out.”
The majority of attendees were wearing their pajamas, eager to get their taste of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebration.
“I like it because it’s really loud, really boisterous and really tacky,” said Christopher Bernardo, a freshman criminal justice major who chose to eat a chocolate crepe. “I feel a lot of school spirit in me right now, it’s outstanding.”
While the students were eating, a band that has performed down on New Orleans’ most famous streets played their songs, including “When the Saints Come Marching In.”
“We have performed on Bourbon Street,” Mickey Bones, drummer for the Hot Tamales, said. “Looking at this place, whoever decided to decorate it like this really knew what they were doing … it looks really nice.”
Among the confetti, balloons and masks, administrators such as Sandra King, Vice President of University Relations, and Ron Martel, Dean of Residential Life, manned the stations.
“It is a lot more intense [in the cafeteria],” said Michael Benitez, manager of Chartwells in Levine Marketplace. “This is the first time we’ve had a live band in here, but we would most definitely encourage more events like this.”
Benitez said the menu made for the event included king cake, crepes, banana’s foster, chocolate mousse, fresh strawberries, as well as the usual breakfast items.
The President’s Office sponsored this late-night breakfast event. According to Martel, the event has been in the works since New Year’s.
Freeland was the judge of the pancake-flipping contest, in which freshman computer science major Nathan Faber came out the victor. Faber won $75 dollars in cash.
“I just get so excited that Northeastern is doing bigger events like this,” said Karen Rigg, VP of Student Affairs, who is set to retire at the end of the school year. “I hope they do this every year, and I would love to come back if they did it again.”
