LSU’s new Cajun Club is looking for new members to introduce to the world of Cajun culture in Baton Rouge and on LSU campus.
“We want to do this because there is a lack of awareness of what Cajun culture really is here in Baton Rouge,” said vice-president Amy Lambert. “It is more than just eating mass produced jambalaya and spelling ‘go’ G-E-A-U-X.”
The Cajun Club came about when Lambert saw the now Cajun Club president Colt Hardee playing the accordion. She believed it was nice to see someone so young so in touch with Cajun culture. The two then decided to start the Cajun Club to bring awareness of Cajun traditions to the younger generation.
The Cajun Club is trying to impart the wisdom of Cajun culture onto students through means such as dances and instructional cooking videos and will soon be having an egg paquing event.
“We are going to have an egg paquing event in April,” said Lambert. “Egg paquing is where you have one person with a boiled egg in one hand, and a person has another one in their hand, and you hit the other persons egg on the top, and whoever has the strongest egg that does not crack wins and you keep going until there’s a winner. It’s a Cajun Easter tradition.”
The Louisiana Egg Commission is donating all of the eggs for the paquing event, so it is completely free to students. It will take place on the parade grounds on Thursday, April 4 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The Cajun Club is also working on many other activities to try and engage college students.
“We are going to start working on a food demonstration video project to post on social media,” said Lambert. “We’ve had a few students come up to us and said that they have interviewed Cajun people before and would like to use their technology skills to create a video. And with all the regulations around food right now, it’s hard to be allowed to cook a meal and bring it to a club organization, so we figured we could promote Cajun food through a video.”
The requirements for membership in the Cajun Club are very little- any LSU student is free to join.
“The only requirement is that you are an LSU student and are willing to have an open mind to Cajun culture,” said Lambert. “You do not have to be a French student. You do not have to be from Louisiana. You do not have to be Cajun. We are open to all people, all races and cultures and nationalities who are interested in learning about this Louisiana heritage.”
