Campus Mardi Gras Do’s and Don’ts

By Laura

While Mardi Gras may certainly be cause to celebrate, there are probably some Mardi Gras traditions that should never leave New Orleans. If you plan on enjoying some Mardi Gras festivities on your campus today, keep these things in mind:

Flashing your girls is a bad idea, no matter what the reason. Whether it’s to score some beads that the frat guys are carrying around campus, at the guy at the front of the line at the cafeteria so he’ll let you cut in front of him, or to your professor in the hopes of scoring an A.  Also, don’t carry around armfuls of beads and hurl them at any girl wearing a low-cut top unless you want to get bitch-slapped.

Boozing on the way to class is a bad idea. Although drinking on the streets is totally normal in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, you probably won’t be able to get away with that excuse if you try to follow suit on campus today.  Also, don’t try to turn your roommates’ food at breakfast into a makeshift King Cake.  She probably won’t appreciate it when she goes to bite into her fruit salad and comes down on a hard plastic baby instead.

Wearing a mask/costume to class is a bad idea. I know you want to celebrate, but wearing a purple, green, and gold showgirl or court jester costume to class just won’t look right in the sea of sweats and PJs. And who’s going to take you seriously?  And you probably shoudn’t try an organize a parade through the residence halls or classroom buildings, either. This is one of the greatest days ever (next to St. Patty’s day!), but not everyone is in the mood to celebrate.

Not everything is a bad idea! Although you might not be able to have all the fun as at a typical New Orleans Mardi Gras party, you can still celebrate!  Gather some friends together for drinks, celebrate Fat Tuesday with a yummy Mardi Gras snacks road rally. Or start a new King Cake tradition: find the baby in a giant Hurricane. On second thought, nix that one. It could get dangerous.