Campus residents can eat gumbo, throw beads and solve a murder mystery during tonight's "Lundi Gras" celebration, sponsored by the Residence Hall Association.
The Murder Mystery Night begins at 9 p.m. in the Hokona Hall cellar and is free for campus residents. Activities are expected to last about two hours.
"It was supposed to be the Tuesday before actual Mardi Gras, but since our program is going to be on Monday we changed to Lundi Gras," said Tina Nguyen, Residence Hall Association president.
Nguyen said the event will begin with a traditional New Orleans dinner including king's cake, gumbo and jambalaya. King's cakes are like cinnamon rolls but are twisted into large ovals and have a colorful sugar topping.
Students can walk around with their food and ask actors questions to get clues about who was murdered. They will also be able to throw beads from a balcony. The detective who solves the mystery wins two tickets to the Murder Mystery CafÇ at the Sheraton Hotel.
Teresa Ortiz, the Residence Hall Association adviser, organized the event.
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"We all volunteered to help her and so she put together a bunch of activities, the decorations and the advertisements," Nguyen said.
Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" and is celebrated 46 days before Easter Sunday. The Mardi Gras celebration begins about two weeks before Fat Tuesday. During those two weeks, people in New Orleans dress up in costumes, toss beads and have parades that can be viewed nightly.
"I think it is the time of celebration where everybody parties and goes crazy because some point comes up when they have to be very religious," Nguyen said.
