By Walter Ryce

Multitudes of students, as well as CSUMB employees, converged on the grassy main quad to enjoy the food, fun and fellowship of the 2023 Campus Cookout (previously called the Welcome BBQ) on Tuesday, Aug. 22. 

Even the sun came out to bless the event. 

Folks came for the promise of free food, including hot dogs and burgers (both the meat and vegan varieties) with all the fixings, corn and black bean salad, baked beans, sodas and other drinks, and a variety of cookies. 

Michael Kimmel, executive chef for campus caterer Chartwells, shared some numbers that illuminated the scale of the event. 

“We had 2,400 burgers, 1,700 hot dogs, 300 vegan hot dogs, 300 Impossible burgers, 2,000 cookies, including 700 vegan horchata cookies,” Kimmel said. “There were 2,000 portions of corn and black bean salad and we spent $1,000 on watermelons.”

About 2,000 people were estimated to have gone through the food line. 

Folks also came for the fun of giant inflatable outdoor games, where people threw inflatable axes and footballs or kicked soccer balls at velcro targets. 

Shanece Garrett, a junior transfer who is studying biology and is on the women’s basketball team, was there with her spirited teammates. In between running some of the inflatable games, they danced on the quad and gregariously engaged with students. 

“We’re just here being a part of the student body,” Garrett said. “We’re also telling people about our upcoming games, just raising awareness for Otter Athletics.”

Phyllis Grillo, the director of University Affairs, Ceremonies and Events, which organized the Cookout as part of the ongoing Otter Days events, said that having it on a weekday reduced costs by averting employees from coming in on a weekend. 

Plus, the students were likely more settled in their dorm rooms from the weekend’s move, so it was easier to show up more relaxed. And the students showed up in droves for the opportunity to mingle and hang out with each other on the lush grass.  

Computer science major Bo Marshall and marine science major Haley Vallier are both first-year students and friends who came from Porterville, California. They were sitting on the lawn together as activity swirled around them and a DJ pumped music into the air. 

Vallier said she came to CSUMB because out of the two universities she was looking at for marine science programs, CSUMB was better resourced. Marshall came to accompany her friend, but also for the weather and the location. 

“Everybody seems really nice,” Marshall said of their Otter Days experiences. “We went to the Late Night at the [Otter Student Union] and the Ice Cream Social.”

“I’m interested in checking out the hikes with Recreation because I’m into hiking,” Vallier said. 

Many new students, such as Vallier and Marshall, have been engaged in Otter Days events, which are designed to help them feel welcome, meet each other, make friends and, as sea otters do, raft up — meaning, to form a support network.