Stevenson University’s Male Initiative of Leadership and Excellence (M.I.L.E.) club will host their fourth annual cookout on April 14 from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. in the apartment quad.
The M.I.L.E. club began hosting this event in the fall semester of 2016 in order to bring the student body together with the hope of creating a fun experience for students. The club includes Stevenson faculty and staff in the cookout as a way for all to get together on a less professional level.
At last year’s cookout, the club brought in over 700 people to the event, and they are hoping for nearly 1,000 people at the cookout this year. The event will include performances by the African Student Union, Organization for Latin American Students, and the Stevenson University Sovereign Stangs (Step Team). Music will be provided by a M.I.L.E. club member, DJ Michael Alli. Cookout food is provided, including hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and sodas, and will be served by club members and various staff members in the apartment quad.
M.I.L.E. plans this event carefully and thoroughly. The club plans to spend at least $1,000 on food and drinks, and members are proud that M.I.L.E. was the first club to sponsor an event that goes past midnight. Most of the money for this event is raised by the club.
Before the cookout, President Bryson Barksdale, and Vice President and incoming president, Noah Connor, have a logistics meeting with Greg Cullison, head of security, Lisa Labrecque, manager of conference services, and Philip Gatling, assistant director of student activities.
M.I.L.E. members will be working the event as well. Each member has signed up for a time to work the food and games, including big Jenga, water pong, trash can pong, and floor square. Barksdale said he hopes that the student body will come out and enjoy some free food and have some fun.
Sophomore club member Christian Amici said, “The cookout is the biggest event that M.I.L.E. puts on every year. As a member, I know it will be a lot of work, but the process as well as the cookout itself is very rewarding.”
