Nathaniel Callaway/The Lion's Roar

REC Fest is an annual event put on for students to mingle with fellow students while partaking in food, games and music.

The picnic style event was held on Thursday, Apr. 27, outside the Pennington from 2 to 6 p.m. Multiple groups and organizations set up booths. Monster Energy set up a tent to hand out free energy drinks. Crawfish and drinks were provided for free to university students and $10 for the public. The games included beanbag toss and a giant Jenga game. However, while the event was enjoyed by some of the students, others thought it was not on par with last year’s.

“Last year’s was better,” said Alexis Guerra, a sophomore healthcare management major. “I understand we’ve got Swamp Bowl coming up as well, so really it’s not that bad. I’m enjoying myself.  They did Swamp Bowl before REC Fest last year, so there was just way more room.And it was a lot bigger. It’s not bad though, like I said, it’s still really nice. It’s something to do, so there’s that. The main thing is the crawfish to be honest. That’s all that matters.”

Some students felt it was a pleasant afternoon despite the limited amount of food choices.

“It’s not bad, but I mean, I wasn’t here last year. So, I don’t know what to compare it with,” said Ana Hernandez, a sophomore finance major. “The jambalaya is okay, but I’m not a seafood person, so I guess it’s good.”

While there were a great deal of recreational activities to choose from at the event, other organizations and clubs used it as an opportunity to raise money for various causes.

“We’re a part of the Southeastern Sociological Association, and right now we’re just trying to raise some money,” said Will Busby, a sophomore marketing major. “What we like to do is to bring forth some current issues in the community. This is for one of those.”

Busby explained that he and his group were selling some baked goods for the clean water situation in St. Joseph, Louisiana.

“I don’t know if everyone is familiar with the situation, but right now their government and the people there are fighting back and forth about their water situation,” said Busby. “It’s really dirty and clearly undrinkable. If you Google it, you can see all the reports on it. The government says it’s okay, but it’s not. As of right now, we’ve raised enough money and cases of water that we’re just gonna donate to the whole city. Right now we’re just trying to raise even more money at the end of the semester, so we can get off on a good note.”