In two weeks many MSU students will be leaving campus during spring break, so the university held its annual “Safe Spring Break” event Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m. in the Legacy courtyard to show students how they can stay safe.

“It’s good timing, because everyone is going to leave early next week [for spring break],” Natasha Goforth, management information systems sophomore, said.

Students from various campus organizations set up tables in the courtyard and handed out free items in the efforts of teaching students how to be safe. For example, PRIDE gave out free condoms, the Student Government Association handed out water bottles and the wellness center handed out hand sanitizer.

“There is less of a focus on individual clubs; it’s more about trying to teach about being safe during Spring Break,” Josh Tyers, sociology club representative and political science and sociology senior, said.

The courtyard was also filled with various activities. There was finger painting, a photo booth, darts, giant Jenga, safety trivia, giant cup pong using a volleyball and trashcans and a bounce house with a giant inflatable wrecking ball inside used to simulate being drunk. The event also had a DJ and flashing multi-colored lights.

“The coolest thing was probably the wrecking ball. I’ve never seen that before,” Tyers said.

For the first year in event history, Safe Spring Break was moved to the evening. The later starting time didn’t seem to have a negative effect on turnout as activities had long lines and students filled the majority of the courtyard. The move to night did mean that the weather was colder, but club representatives said enduring the cold was worth the message they were able to spread.

“It might be chilly, but my heart is warmed by how many water bottles I’ve handed out,” Landon Parks, student government association representative and exercise physiology sophomore, said.

While some were concerned that the fun nature of Safe Spring Break overshadowed the informative aspect of the event, a student who attended the event said she didn’t feel that was the case.

“I think they [achieved their goal] of being informative, because they handed out stuff like information [pamphlets] and condoms,” Goforth said.