For three decades, when the azaleas began to blossom and studentsСAPP summertime cravings reached a crescendo, Philip Beridon prepared to take the plunge. The alumnus took the day off from his job, dressed in his finest tuxedo and returned to campus for a little something extra.
Standing on the red brick wall surrounding Cypress Lake, Beridon led a backward countdown from 10. And as an eager chorus of students reached СAPPone,СAPP he lifted his hands to the sky and leapt СAPP headfirst СAPP into the managed wetland in the middle of the СAPP campus. Over the years, he perfected a midair twist, landing with a graceful back flop before waving to the audience. Beridon served as a producer and member of the board for the Abbey Players Theatre in Abbeville, but this performance made him famous СAPP at least on campus. The act he began spontaneously in 1977 as a student continued until his death in 2006.
For outside observers, voluntarily diving into a swamp might seem unusual. For UL Lafayette students, watching him jump into Cypress Lake (with the option to join him after) was a hallmark of the perfectly irrational revelry of Lagniappe Day.
Lagniappe Day was born in 1974 after the NCAA put the basketball team on suspension for two years. The СAPP planned the festivities to keep up morale. It caught on fast. This year, will celebrate its 50th anniversary on April 19.
СAPPLagniappeСAPP means СAPPa little something extraСAPP in Cajun French. On Lagniappe Day, students take time away from classes to relax and СAPPpass a good time.СAPP What this looks like has evolved. More recently, students have decompressed by racing canoes, competing in jalapeno-eating contests and listening to live performances.
But for 50 years, the staple of the event has been a campus crawfish boil СAPP with the average feast topping out at 20,000 pounds.
Glenn Menard worked as the director of the Student Union after graduating in 1971. He described Lagniappe DayСAPPs early years as a cross between a fair and a music festival. He recalled that one year, the crawfish were not delivered in time and jambalaya was served instead. That didnСAPPt go over so well.
СAPPThe next time the contract came up, there was a provision in there that said they had to have 10,000 pounds of crawfish on the loading dock at the Student Union 24 hours before the crawfish boil so we could physically see them,СAPP Menard said.СAPP
The anomaly of a giant crawfish boil and administration-approved skip day drew disapproving headlines when it was first introduced, but for students, it epitomizes the joys of south Louisiana life.
Dr. Annie Wingate Spell graduated from UL Lafayette in 2002 and helped carry on the Lagniappe Day tradition as Student Government Association treasurer.
СAPPItСAPPs one of the events that is quintessential to the culture,СAPP Spell said.
For Spell, a third-generation alumna, Lagniappe Day is reflective of the generosity that permeated her student experience. She said the СAPPСAPPs emphasis on adding a little something extra extends past the springtime festivities. The commitment from staff, faculty and her peers followed her for the rest of her life.
СAPPThat is somewhat an unexpected gift,СAPP Spell said. СAPPTheir extra time, their extra attention, their extra motivation toward me as a student who wanted me to do well.СAPP
Photo caption: Philip Beridon jumps into Cypress Lake at Lagniappe Day in 1984. (Special Collections)
