The Crawfish Boil, an annual Bengal Lancer fundraising event, was held in the backyard of the Bengal Lancer fraternity house on Saturday, March 29. Walking in, partygoers could smell crawfish and spices wafting through the air. About 250 people stood in the 80 degree weather, chatting, playing cornhole and beer die and waiting for the crawfish to finish cooking.
New Bengal Lancer, Alex Westmoreland, first-year biology major, expressed he was excited about the Crawfish Boil and thought it was going well. Although allergic to crawfish, Westmoreland was still enthusiastic about the party.

“It’s a little hotter than we expected, but it’s a lot of fun,” Westmoreland said. “Just meeting new people here because we’re just trying to expand our club and we’re going to get a lot of people here.”

In the week leading up to the party, Bengal Lancers could be seen advertising the Crawfish Boil at Coates, selling tickets for $5 and later, $10 at the door. The Crawfish Boil was open to and attracted not only Trinity students but also alumni, friends and family members.

Marlene Bratten traveled from Houston to attend the event. She was invited by her son, John Bratten, sophomore international business major, who is a new Bengal Lancer. Bratten explained that she was excited both for the crawfish and to see her son get involved in the organization.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen [something] like this, and I’m glad that my son is part of a brotherhood,” Bratten said.
Michael Hetler, sophomore mathamatics major and Bengal Lancer, said he was super excited about the turnout. He credited the high number of attendees to their advertising.

“The week before we had 30 people signed up and with not super heavy marketing,” Hetler said. “But then obviously being able to table in Coates – we tabled Monday through Thursday that week – we were able to get over 200 students to sign up to come.”

Hetler explained the Bengal Lancers are looking to continue the tradition of the Crawfish Boil. He even stated the Lancers wanted to expand the party to include more people and more attractions.

“We got enough support, so next year we’re looking to improve and make it a little bigger and hopefully build off of [it],” Hetler said. “If we can get that number up and then we’ll have live music and there were small things that we kind of took notes on and will work on.”

When it came to eating the crawfish, Ryland Ton, sophomore human resources major, expressed his excitement for the food. He explained he planned to consume as much crawfish as possible.

“I think I’m expecting to eat about 20 pounds. 20, indubitably,” Ton said. “Everyone looks like they’re enjoying themselves.”