BY: KATE ALMQUIST, KATEALMQUIST@GO.MNSTATE.EDU

Dragon Frost 2021 will take place at MSUM this week, with various activities through the week of Monday, Feb. 8 through Saturday, Feb. 13. Now more than ever, MSUM students are in need of an opportunity to reconnect and engage with each other, and that is the Dragon Entertainment Group’s main goal with these events.

Madisen Anderson, MSUM senior and social media coordinator of the Dragon Entertainment Group, says they wanted to do everything they could to make this experience as normal as possible for students.

“Dragon Frost brings the community together and inspires a sense of belonging in MSUM students,” Anderson said, “With that in mind, it was a no-brainer that it should happen this year, but how it would happen was up in the air for a long time.”

Anderson and the Dragon Frost committee made decisions based on the status changes determined by President Blackhurst and the Pandemic Response Team. They got to a place where they could adjust most events to follow the appropriate safety protocols and rules, whether that be in-person, virtually, or hybrid.

The one situation they had to change was the manner in which the Dragon Frost Court will be announced. Typically, it’s announced in-between the men’s and women’s basketball games but this year, royalty will be revealed at the Craft Night on Monday at 6 p.m.

“Although we are not able to pack the student section like years before, we will support from afar and adjust where we can,” Anderson said.

Anderson is the event lead for the Mug Crawl, which will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The crawl is a staple and a crowd favorite of Dragon Frost but has never been done online before. Instead of an organization scavenger hunt all over campus, the crawl will take place over a series of breakout rooms on Zoom. 

“It has been a challenge and an interesting experience to turn a campus-wide event into a mostly virtual one,” Anderson said, “But it’s definitely the event I’m most excited for.”

According to Anderson, other highlights of Dragon Frost include both the Mac and Cheese, and French Toast Bars because they have a very popular common denominator.

“There’s something about free food that college students can’t turn down,” Anderson said, “I think everyone will be very excited for those.”

Despite the challenges, the Dragon Frost committee is more excited than ever to put on these events for MSUM students. 

“I hope students are able to reconnect with others again,” Anderson said, “Many of us are struggling with a lack of connection to others now that so many things are online. Putting in the extra work and precautions is worth it because we know we’re doing all that we can to create an environment that truly enhances the student experience.”

While planning these events, Anderson often fell back on the Dragon Entertainment Group’s mission statement for motivation, which states, “enhance the college experience through leadership, student development, and innovative programming.”

“No matter what challenges and hopes we had to jump through, we were determined to offer something to our students to connect them to each other and to our campus,” Anderson said.

The full list of Dragon Frost events can be found here.