By Lindsey McLemore | Reporter
As midterms approach, first-year students can take time to have fun and make a mess from 5 to 6 p.m. today on Fountain Mall.
First Year Follies, sponsored by the Student Foundation, is an annual tradition in which first-year students blow off some steam by participating in a large paint war after a few weeks of adjusting to life at Baylor.
Kaufman senior Stephen Gentzel and Joaquin senior Olivia Worsham are campus promotions co-chairs for the Student Foundation. Gentzel and Worsham talked with Lariat TV News about changes made to this Baylor tradition for 2016.
“Last year, we found out there were some first-year transfer students who would have enjoyed going to the event,” Gentzel said. “They’re new to Baylor, just like the freshmen are, but the follies weren’t marketed toward them, so we changed the name from Freshman Follies to First Year Follies.”
This year, the event is open to freshmen, first-year transfers, international exchange students and any other Baylor students in their first year.
“We really wanted to include all Baylor students in their first year,” Worsham said. “There are a lot who come to Baylor as transfer students and still don’t feel like they’re at home yet, and we want them to feel like they’re welcome at these events and that they’re a part of the Baylor family.”
The event has existed in various forms for 38 years, and previous Follies exclusively targeted the freshman class. Some follies incorporated food, shaving cream and other substances, but this year Student Foundation is revamping the event.
“This year, we’ve chosen a paint theme,” Genzel said. “So first-year students will be split into two teams, each with different colored paints,” Gentzel said.
He said, students on both teams will be given cups of paint and will then run to the middle to throw paint at the opposing team.
The paints being used are washable, and students are encouraged to wear white to show more color. Year Follies will be Thursday at Fountain Mall and is open to all students in their first year at Baylor.
