Ferg serves Mix It Up as main dish

Meeting new people was the main dish served in the Ferguson Center Food Court at the Mix It Up event held Tuesday.

The Women's Resource Center and Crossroads Community Center teamed with Freshman Forum to host Mix It Up, which is an annual national event usually targeted toward high school students, to help meet new people.

Freshman Forum students along with Women Involved in Learning and Leading students decided to adapt the program to the college level.

Caroline Beard, a Freshman Forum member who is majoring in public relations and Spanish, said the objective of the day was "to help people break the stereotypes, try to get people to switch up their daily habits and break the laws of sitting within their comfort zone."

As students walked into the Ferg for lunch, they were greeted by either WILL or Freshman Forum students with random color Blow Pops assigning their designated table.

"At first people were nervous when we handed them the Blow Pop, but once they sat down they got more comfortable," said Freshman Forum member Kandice Harris, who is majoring in political science.

Ryan Sprinkle, a freshman majoring in finance and Freshman Forum member, said the Ferguson Center was the ideal place for the event.

"[It is] a good central location with a good diversity of upper-classman and freshman," he said.

Informative pamphlets were on the tables to help break the ice. With 120 participants, anywhere from two to six students sat at each table conversing.

Sprinkle, who said he enjoyed the conversation told students, "Don't be afraid to try something new."

Myron Cobington, a graduate student in communications and co-advisor of Freshman Forum, said he was pleased with the turn out, considering the usual light traffic in the Ferg on Tuesday.

Harris said she originally anticipated conversations to be only 15 to 20 minutes long, but said she saw some that lasted for more than an hour.

Cobington said the majority of the participants were women of different descents.

"We wanted guys to talk to ladies, we wanted the athletes to talk to the Freshman Forum students, we wanted people to be able to bust out of the stereotypes," Cobington said.

Cobington said he hopes to make this event more frequent and would like to branch out to Lakeside Diner and other locations like Burke Dining Hall.

"It was absolutely a success, people we're getting e-mail addresses, finding church buddies, shopping buddies and people of the same faith and backgrounds," he said. "If you are able to go to your computer and have two new friend requests on MySpace or Facebook, we had a success."

Harris, who also participated, said she made a lot of friends but was, "trying to remember their first and last name so I can Facebook them."

Many people were able to find common ground with others they normally wouldn't talk to despite the short time period for the event.

Beard said she thinks this event is a connecting link promoting the unity on campus.

" In order for the University as a whole to succeed, we, as students, have to stay connected," she said. "We are one big community and we need to remain united to have one voice, not many cliques. It's about all of us."