JAGNIK: Taking it back to the ‘90s and the 2000s’

Welcome back week was full of festivities and positive vibes!Jagnik was inspired by a 90s party theme ‘Freaknik’. Freaknik was first created in March 1982 at Spelman College. It was known to be the largest end-of-the- school-year- party. Freaknik was first held in John A. White Park in April 1982, it was attended by at least 150 students featuring a potluck and dancing. They also had two students who were Morehouse College rappers, Nab and Daryl Baptiste Miller. Over the years, Freaknik became an open event to the general public, people from the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean and Europe came to participate in it. In 1990, 300,000 people attended it. Every year it started to increase due to popularity. After a 20-year hiatus, the last official Freaknik being in 1999, Atlanta-based promotion company After 9 Partners and Carlos Neal contracted Luther Campbell, Juvenile, Trina and others to spearheaded the return of a revamped Freaknik in June 2019. The Summer 2019 Freaknik featured hip-hop and R&B music artists performing at the Cellairis Amphitheatre. Other activities were available throughout Atlanta, such as a community service event. Many of the 20,000+ attendees were adults who participated in the official Freakniks of the 80s and 90s. Southern University’s ‘22-‘23 SGA President Carlos Brister created a welcome back week with the theme of ‘Jagnik’. This week consisted of Dance Clinic, Welcome back to Jagnik Survival Guide, Mayberry Madness, Magic City, Trap Bingo, The Pretty Wednesday Experience, T-shirt/Novelty Giveaway, Jagnik(concert), Fanfest: Hosted by SUBR Athletics, and lastly Campus Beautification. The Presidents purpose of this theme was to bring it back to the 1990’s and early 2000s. One event that stood out the most was our Jagnik Concert Friday August 19th. Courtney Davis, sophomore, Criminal Justice, gives her opinion on the Jagnik Concert, “It was really fun for me and my friends being able to dress up and get into that old and new school music, the food trucks were good, all the fraternities and sororities made it even more interesting and fun. Everything was put together very well thanks to our SGA President, Carlos Brister. I would have to say this was the best welcome back to school experience I have ever had”.