The Campus Events Board hosted their annual Hoedown Throwdown event on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Plaza. The night was full of fun, friends, folk festivities and country cooking.
Students were greeted with cowboy hats and coupons for the available food trucks on site at the event. Selections ranged from Wholly Souled Soul Food, Smith’s Endzone BBQ and Knox Dough, with music provided by WUTK 90.3 The Rock. Two-line dancers were also present, leading the crowd in choreographed routines across all music genres.
Aside from cutting a rug, students were welcome to ride the mechanical bull, have pictures taken in the photo booth and have the opportunity to go home with a one-of-a-kind balloon animal, courtesy of the balloon animal artist. Stations were also set up around the plaza for students to design their own wooden horseshoe ornaments.
A constant flow of students came and went as the night progressed, some dressed in classic Western wear while others just showed up in casual UT apparel.
Some of the most exciting segments of the Throwdown were the pie eating contests. Intermittently, three students were chosen to step up on stage to stuff their faces with whipped cream and pie crust until one came out victorious.
Entertainment Committee member Regine Gomez applauded her team and the event for bringing people together and was excited for UT students to dress up under a fun theme for the evening.
“My favorite thing is the mechanical and all the free food we’re getting,” Gomez said.
That seemed to be the unanimous opinion amongst the participants.
The college radio station was hosting a raffle for the chance to win a pack of four tickets to an Ice Bears hockey game, along with a $10 gift card to both The Hill and The Tomato Head. They were also offering out free stickers.
Junior English major Anna Quinn French had a blast at the event and spent the majority of her time on the dance floor.
“Anytime I get the opportunity to dance in public or, you know, be around UT students whom I haven’t met before, I always am thrilled to be present and be involved on campus especially. I think that the atmosphere is fantastic. It obviously took a lot of work to set this up — a lot of moving parts and I am honestly impressed by the work of the Campus Events Board,” French said.
“During my breaks from dancing, I loved the option of grabbing a bite to eat and sitting at one of the picnic tables as I watched the festivities continue. I love to people watch, and this was the perfect event to do so,” French said.
In the last hour of the night, students were still buzzing on the dance floor, and although numbers dwindled, the turnout was still a success. The Campus Events Board is hosting Justin Baldoni, heartthrob from the hit series Jane the Virgin, on March 29 for a talk on masculinity.
