By Katelyn Needham
Photos by Kaylee Jensen/The Collegian
With eyepatches, parrots and swords, pirates took the stage on SE Campus.
National Talk Like a Pirate Day on Sept. 19 took over the campus. Faculty and staff dressed up as pirates and the traveling pirate group, The Bilge Pumps, performed on a stage set up in the main commons.
“We are trying to bring in a performing arts group every month,” said SE liberal arts dean Jerry Coats, who organized the event. “We not only do our own performing arts on this campus, but we’re trying to bring in outside groups to stimulate students. Talk Like a Pirate Day was merely an excuse for that. The Bilge Pumps were in town, and the price was right to get them here.”
The main commons was decorated for the event. The theater department helped hang parrots and flags from the ceiling while the honors society set up tables for the student giveaways.
“This event is a whole lot of fun,” administrative assistant DieTra Taylor said. “It has taken us a month or two to prepare. We had to get the setups in place, order all the supplies and arrange for the Bilge Pumps to come. It’s important to have events like this because it shows students something different.”
There were also Talk Like a Pirate competitions where student audience members could participate. First place received a parrot hat and pirate booty, second won Chips Ahoy cookies and third a box of Cap’n Crunch cereal.
“Things like this bring together the whole student body,” SE student J.J. Eromonsele said. “It allows everyone to feel like they’re a part of it and makes them more interested about what’s going on and happening around us.”
