From rollerskates to bounce houses, the Multicultural Student Union’s Stay Woke Week got students up and moving. With the end of the year creeping up, stressed students looked forward to the Stay Woke Week activities. At the Y2K themed Skate Night on Wednesday, students were seen rollerskating to music and enjoying pizza. During Inner-Childhood Day on Thursday, which was moved into the Field House due to the rainy weather, friends raced each other through the bounce-house obstacle course and indulged in cotton-candy and games from middle school like scooter-boards.
“We try to have fun activities for students to take a break from school. We try to include cultural stuff in it,” says Jonathan Jocelyn, MSU’s Vice President. “It’s basically for people to relax, forget about classes, forget about everything. Just take an hour and just relax.
Jocelyn emphasized that the week was not just about taking a break and having fun, but also about celebrating the diversity on campus and educating about different cultures.
“I raced my two friends and I won both times, so it was great,” says freshman Evelyn Winslow. “I wish it was on the quad, but I guess the weather didn’t allow it so it’s kinda sad, there’s not many people here, but I think it’s a really fun event that should continue.”
Evelyn and her friends were seen passing a volleyball back and forth and revisiting childhood with the scooter-boards. Other students played jumbo-sized Connect4 and tossed beanbags during a game of Cornhole.
As the event went on, more and more people started to show and the event picked up. Inner-Childhood Day is usually held outside Upper Commons on the quad, where passing students can see the bounce-house obstacle courses as they pass through.
Winslow also attended the skate night where she says, “It was really fun. It was a great opportunity because it’s one of my favorite hobbies.”
MSU is looking to make Stay Woke Week an RWU tradition, specifically the Affinity Awards Ceremony, which was a night where students from different organizations and groups dressed their best and were celebrated with awards.
“Afinity was really a success this year, we kind of had more people and the whole setup and just how the event went was way better than last year,” says Jocelyn
The Affinity Awards were held in the Law School Bistro this year. MSU hopes the Affinity Awards will become a tradition and will continue to get better every year.
“It’s a night of celebration which makes people feel like we see the work that they do and we appreciate it and just basically encourage them to keep doing it,” says Jocelyn.
The Affinity Awards honored general members for their contributions as well as honoring graduating seniors. Clubs could vote for people to be recognized from their groups.
Mondays Trivia in the Commons allowed students to win prizes for answering questions. Some were cultural topics that were meant to educate students.
