BROWNSVILLE – The UTRGV campus community celebrated The Stomp on the Student Union lawn Tuesday in Brownsville.
The Stomp, a foremost event of Welcome Week hosted by Student Activities, featured numerous organizations and businesses providing information and entertainment alongside chances to win goodies and prizes at various games set up throughout the event.
English junior Ellie Rodriguez said she visited several booths that she thought had interesting goals in mind, such as Texas Regional Bank’s Money Tornado.
“We got to pass by this booth with this money, little tornado thing, and we saw them giving money to students that might need it,” Rodriguez said.
One student who participated in the Money Tornado was Lorenzo Salinas, an art sophomore attending as a member of the Sculpture Club.
Salinas won $8 during his round and celebrated shortly after alongside his fellow Sculpture Club peers.
“I was trying to grab as much as I could, I don’t know, it just seemed to gravitate towards me,” Salinas said.
The Sculpture Club hosted its own booth that offered on-the-spot face painting and art supplies for passersby, with President Yvette Larios and Vice President Anahi Garcia speaking to students interested in the club’s activities.
“It’s an organization that’s open to everyone, you don’t have to be an art major, that’s like the best part. It’s great for socializing, but also seeing if you wanna experiment in the art field,” Garcia said.
The event started at 11 a.m. and was intended to last until 2 p.m. but was abruptly stopped at 1:30 p.m. due to incoming thunder and lightning monitored in the local area.
Cristina Rodriguez, assistant director of Student Activities, said that she was excited by the outcome of the event despite the disruption.
“I want to say we doubled,” Rodriguez said. “We did grow from our last year’s Stomp event.”
Rodriguez encouraged students across the Brownsville and Edinburg campuses to visit the upcoming events hosted by Student Activities during the Fall semester, which will include The Stomp in Edinburg on Aug. 31.
Students can find more information about upcoming events by going to the UTRGV Events Calendar on the university’s website.