Behind the name change: Mardi Gras to Casino Night
Utah State University is saying goodbye to the annual Mardi Gras party, and saying hello to the first annual Casino Night.
USU Activities Committee has instigated a rebrand of the tradition, renaming it Casino Night to highlight the most recognizable piece of the event.
Jamie Parry, a senior in political science, is the activities committee director.
According to Parry, the name was changed because the event didn’t coincide with Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras, translated from French to Fat Tuesday, started as a celebration before the Christian Lent. During Lent, many Christians prepare spiritually before Easter via fasting, repentance and other forms of spiritual discipline.
In the past, many of USU’s Mardi Gras parties have been in January, a month before the actual celebration, and they didn’t include many aspects of the tradition as seen in places like New Orleans.
“We were doing really nothing to celebrate actual Mardi Gras except for usually using purple, green and gold and handing out beads at the very beginning,” Parry said.
According to Parry, this realization made her decide to look for a different name for the spring semester’s version of the Howl.
“It made more sense to broaden the scope of what this event can be,” Parry said. “We wanted to make it a little bit more dynamic like the Howl is and also describe what it actually is, which is a casino night.”
Josie Packer, a sophomore studying plant science, is a member of the activities committee.
According to Packer, it was important to the activities committee to bring something new and fresh to USU.
“It has just been Mardi Gras, and there isn’t a lot of variability with that,” Packer said. “With Casino Night, I feel like it can change a lot. It’s so encompassing.”
With Casino Night settled as the new spring semester event name, the activities committee was faced with the challenge of deciding on this year’s theme.
“When we talked about it, we were like, ‘What are some things that remind you of a casino?’” Parry said. “What we landed on was doing something Vegas themed, because you immediately think of a casino when you think of Vegas.”
According to Packer, once the team had their Vegas theme settled, there were a lot of opposing ideas for the name.
“We got a lot of bad ideas,” Packer said. “But I think bad ideas are good because they just help us to be more creative.”
Parry said one of the favorite ideas was Cash Valley, but the idea never came to fruition because they couldn’t imply they were going to use real cash. Eventually, after lots of brainstorming, they landed on Viva Las Logan for the first annual Casino Night.
Along with the name change, several elements of Casino Night have differed from past Mardi Gras activities. For starters, this year, in addition to the TSC, portions of the event were located in the more spacious Fieldhouse.
“You can have it catered from outside places in the Field House, which is an advantage of having it there,” Parry said. One of the caterers of the night will be Raising Cane’s.
According to Packer, having the casino tables in the International Lounge of the TSC in past years made for a crowded environment.
“It just ended up being kind of chaotic and didn’t run as smoothly as we would have liked,” Packer said. “This year, with it being in the Fieldhouse, gave us so much more space to work with.”
Parry said the increase in casino tables was 30%, giving more emphasis on the event’s new name. Games included will be blackjack, roulette and hold ‘em.
In addition to more space, new activities were added to Casino Night, including low stakes bingo and an Elvis and Taylor Swift impersonator.
There was even an addition of a marriage booth in the TSC sky room. The team got wedding dresses from a thrift store and cut out the backs so participants could get dressed up for their fake weddings.
According to Packer, the wedding idea started as a joke.
“I was just thinking like Little White Chapel,” Packer said. “And we’re like, ‘Wait, this is actually a great idea.’”
Packer said the work the activities committee does to set up these events is rewarding because they get to see the impact of their hard work.
“At the end of the day, you’re cleaning up and it’s 2:30 in the morning and you’re like, ‘We totally just did that,’” Packer said. “We did that, and it’s because we get to work together.”
Parry said going to activities was one of the highlights of her first year, and Mardi Gras was her favorite event.
“When I joined the activities committee last year, it really did change my life,” Parry said. “Being able to not only create those lifetime memories for other USU students but work with a committee full of people that are just as passionate about that as you is super special.”