Money went flying Tuesday in the Quad as students tossed nearly 30,000 pieces of fake cash during the University’s first “Tiger Flash Mob: Money War.”
The flash mob was organized by graduate student Ariel Gratch’s Communication Studies 3041 “performance in everyday life” class and was designed to protest the budget cuts in a new and unique way.
Gratch was out of town for the event, but the students carried on.
“We wanted to do something with a strong rhetorical message about how budget cuts are affecting LSU,” said Capri Mandella, psychology and communication studies senior and member of the class. “We had a bunch of ideas, but this was our favorite one.”
Students from the class dressed in suits and handed out fake money before the event, pulling the dollars from an LSU Bookstore bag.
Mandella said the students in suits represented state officials, and the bags signified the University. The money, which had Gov. Bobby Jindal’s face printed on it, sported phrases like “the Flagship is sinking” and “Where’s the money going?”
The participants chanted these same phrases as they threw the bills in the air, and the “state officials” stuffed the cash in their pockets.
“I think it got the message out,” said Jasmine Jackson, general studies senior and member of the class. “[The budget crisis] is important, and it affects all of us, not just some.”
Sociology sophomore Sharlyn Claxton, a participant in the flash mob who isn’t part of Gratch’s class, said students will see the money and ask what it is about.
Mandella agreed and said she hopes students keep the money and embrace the message.
The Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget will meet Nov. 19 at the State Capitol. Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater will present information to the committee concerning midyear budget reductions, and the “fiscal status statement” and “five-year base-line budget” will be discussed, according to the meeting agenda.
“Some of the bills said to go to the legislative [budget] meeting on [Nov. 19],” Mandella said of the fake money. “We want to get as many people as we can involved so we can see a change in the budget.”
Mandella said the event was a class-wide effort, and each student had a specific role in making it a success.
“Many of us are seniors. We don’t want to leave the University and see it sink,” Mandella said. “This is our way of leaving the University in a better way.”
Besides the flash mob event, Mandella said the class sent 150 envelopes filled with letters and the fake dollar bills to the Legislature.
“We don’t know where the money is going, and we want to know now,” Mandella said.
 
—-
Sydni Dunn at [email protected]