Kicking Off the Year With TigerPalooza 2022!
On the eve of the start of the fall semester, LSU Tiger Life hosted its first annual Tigerpalooza, a kickoff event that brought student-athletes and athletics staff together to celebrate core values, discuss campus resources, and fellowship with one another.
Tigerpalooza took place inside the Carl Maddox Field House, where countless booths and tables housed activities for Tigers to engage in. The event began at center stage, where emcees from the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Black Student-Athlete Association (BSAA) hosted the pep rally portion of the evening. Hosts included SAAC President Jill Bohnet (Volleyball), SAAC Vice President Spencer Adrian (Men’s Swimming & Diving), BSAA Executive Member Sanaa Dotson, and BSAA Communications Director Alia Williams.
Tiger Life Directors Dr. Melissa Weinsz and Tomika Smith also spoke about their roles in LSU Athletics, which is to offer personal and professional development resources for all athletes. Tigers also heard from Leighann Westfall, Executive Director of External Relations and Letterwinner Engagement, and Taylor Jacobs, Assistant Athletics Director for NIL and Strategic Initiatives.
Shelly Mullenix, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Health and Wellness, and Dr. LaKeitha Poole, Assistant Athletics Director for Sport Psychology and Counseling, were also introduced as resources for student-athletes. LSU Athletics Director Scott Woodward joined Tigerpalooza to offer words of wisdom to the crowd as well.
Introductions of the executive boards for both SAAC and BSAA concluded the pep rally, releasing the Tigers to engage in the fun set before them. Every athlete received a free boxed dinner from Zoe’s Kitchen, Qdoba or Jason’s Deli, and could finish it off with Kona Ice or candy from surrounding tables. Attractions included several inflatables: baseball speed pitch, basketball shoot-out, axe throwing, skee-ball, football toss, soccer shoot-out, ring toss and hula-hoop toss. There were also yard and traditional games such as life-size Connect 4, Jenga, Spikeball, corn hole, Kanjam and more. The photo booth, pie-toss and customizable balloon animals were also a hit.
Tigerpalooza served as the kickoff for Streak Week, which was a week full of programming that took place all throughout the first week of classes. Streak Week’s main purpose was to highlight LSU Athletics’ core values. Programs included Collect Your Stripes, where athletes could be sized for their letterman jackets and pick up any awards they received in 2021-2022 seasons. Tiger Tuesday asked athletes to play a “search and connect” game to learn more about Tiger Life’s resources. NIL took over Wednesday, offering athletes the opportunity to learn about building their bio. Later on, athletes had the chance to meet business leaders in the community that they could facilitate NIL partnerships with. On Thursday, BSAA and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hosted a lunch & learn that educated participants on how to protect one’s inner peace while navigating issues in society. Streak Week concluded on Friday, where athletes helped put together 1,000 care packages for families at Our Lady of the Lake hospital. The goal of 1,000 was reached an hour earlier than planned!
While Tigerpalooza and Streak Week served as educational and celebratory events, perhaps the most important objective was to bring the student-athlete community together. Student-athletes have voiced their craving to connect with athletes outside of their own sport, and Tigerpalooza was just the beginning of it.
“It made me proud and excited to see student-athletes building relationships across teams over this shared experience,” Dr. Weinsz noted. “Tomika and I were also able to see student-athletes’ authentic personalities shine through while planning, running and attending Tigerpalooza, which is a different perspective than what is normally shared within athletic and academic environments. If you ask me, this is what our job is all about!”
