The University Programming Board and The Bridge College hosted a snow party for the Texas Stampede Week called ‘Dashing through the Snow.’ on Jan. 14 in the Legacy Courtyard at 6 p.m. Ruby Arriaga, UPB adviser, said UPB is where students can organize events.

“During the semester, students will talk to me about wanting to host an event and we kind of put it together,” Arriaga said. “Any event that is organized by UPB is always free.”

Arriaga said Stampede Week gives students an opportunity to relax as they prepare for the upcoming semester.

“It is important because, although academics is very important, it is also important to have fun in college,” Arriaga said.

Casey Washington, marketing freshman, said this is her first-time attending Stampede Week. She believed that Stampede Week offered many students an opportunity to relax in preparation of the upcoming semester.

“I believe it is important to relax because a lot of people over stress themselves,” Washington said. “It is important to keep your mental health in check.”

UPB, under Arriaga’s coordination, started planning for Stampede Week during the Winter Break in December.

“Basically, we invited student organizations and their officers to help organize Stampede Week,” Arriaga said. “We ask them if they want to help get involved.”

According to Arriaga, the most successful event during Stampede Week was ‘Late Night Breakfast.’

“We had a late-night breakfast and it was pretty packed last night,” Arriaga said.

Shernel Thomas, business management sophomore, said that ‘Late Night Breakfast’ was here favorite part of Stampede Week.

“It was kind of like a social event,” Thomas said. “It gave me the opportunity to meet new people and catch up with my friends.”

During ‘Dashing through the Snow,’ many students played with snow as well had cups of hot chocolate. Gavin Perry, undecided sophomore, said that he was attracted by the joy of the students as well as the snow and hot chocolate.

“Everybody’s out here having a good time,” Perry said. “It seems pretty exciting and entertaining. I also came for the hot coco and snow.”

Alexis von Gilleland, biology sophomore, really enjoyed the variety of flavors that were provided.

“This one is mint hot chocolate,” Gilleland said. “It was nice that they had different flavors to choose from.”

Perry said the best hot chocolate he had was his mother’s home-made hot chocolate.

“It was the thickest, sweetest, chocolatey and milkiest hot coco I’ve ever had,” Perry said.

Lawrence Green, marketing sophomore, said his favorite part of ‘Dashing through the Snow’ was snowball fighting with his friends.

“We just came back from skiing in Colorado,” Green said. “I kind of missed the snow.”

For many students, the first time they have seen snow was at MSU Texas. This included Washington, who is from East Texas.

“Where I’m from, it doesn’t snow, Washington said. “So, when it snowed on campus once back, that was my first-time seeing snow.”

Thomas, who is from Jamaica, said that this is one of the few times she has seen snow.

“I kind of enjoyed it with my friends,” said Washington. “It doesn’t really snow where I’m from.”

The Bridge college ministry financed the snow, which Emergency Ice brought in.

“We had to get it from a company called Emergency Ice which is based in Dallas,” Andre Reilly, The Bridge pastor. “We paid them a nice chunk of change to spray a bunch of real snow on the ground.”

Reilly said it took the company only an hour to cover a section of the Legacy Courtyard with snow.

“They came with a woodchipper, stuffed a bunch of ice in it and made some snow,” Reilly said. “I think they did a really good job.”

The Bridge College is an on-campus college ministry. Reilly said that one of the main goals of The Bridge is to teach as many students about Jesus.

“We always put on fun events like this to meet new people,” Reilly said. “We know how hard it is to be a Christian in college so we want to be a place where you can ask questions and find your strength.”

Reilly said he was very satisfied with the Bridge’s contribution to ‘Dashing through the Snow.’ He also said that we enjoyed meeting new people at the event.

“We had tones of people,” Reilly said. “We had lots of snow thrown. We had lots of hot chocolate. We met lots of people. So, I would say that it has been a huge success.”

Arriaga said she was satisfied with the attendance; however, she argued that the attendance was undermined by the cold weather.

“It went good. I’m surprised a lot of students came because it’s so cold right now,” Arriaga said. “Since it’s so cold, many students are watching from their rooms.”

Due to the weather, the attendance quickly wined down. Among those that quickly left was Gilleland.

“I’m going to finish my hot chocolate and go inside because it’s cold,” Gilleland said.

However, Perry is also excited to be attending the rest of the event for Stampede Week.

“I’ll be at every event because I’m excited and they always have something going on here,” Perry said.

In fact, there are more events. For example, Alex Collins, coordinator of student organizations and leadership program, has organized the Interfaith Fair this Tuesday as well as the Student Organization Fair this Wednesday.

“It is an opportunity for students to come and feel welcomed on campus,” Collins said. “So, we do a lot of activities to get students involved at the beginning of the semester.”

Collins said between 35 to 37 student organizations have been invited to participate in the Student Organization Fair.

“We sent out an email last week to ask the different student organizations on campus if they wanted an opportunity to present their organizations to new students,” Collins said. “This is an opportunity for students to learn about the different organizations on campus.”

Collins was also successful at reserving eight different religious organizations in Wichita Falls to host the Interfaith Fair.

“I’ll email and call different religious organizations across town to come to MSU,” Collins said. “Students will have an opportunity to learn about different religious beliefs in Wichita Falls.”

Gallery • 3 Photos

Bridget Reilly

Dental Hydgiene freshman Lauren Cox tries to runaway from an incoming snowball, whilst eating her own snowball at the 'Dashing through the snow' event hosted by UPB and The Bridge. Jan 14. Photo by Bridget Reilly