“Red light. Green light. Red light.”
Shouts echoed across the room as players dashed forward, then froze. In an intense twist on the childhood game, MTSU students tested their reflexes and nerves in SWEET Melanin’s “Squid Games”-inspired event, where the thrill of competition met the energy of community.
SWEET Melanin — short for “Sophisticated Women, Enhancing and Empowering the Girls of Today” — is a women’s empowerment group that volunteers and mentors in Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tennessee. While their focus is supporting women from minority backgrounds, they welcome all.
The energy of inclusion and excitement was on full display as teams and individual players gathered on the indoor soccer field at the Campus Recreation Center. Taking charge at the front, Jazmine Carter, the group’s treasurer, explained the rules.
Carter organized the event to raise money in order to fund more outings and bonding events for SWEET Melanin, aiming to bring more people out to show their competitiveness and have fun.
“We just wanted to do something fun and not do the same thing every time,” Carter said. “So I thought, ‘Hey, it’s trending now, let’s do the ‘Squid Games.’’”
Carter organized three games: “red light, green light,” cookie cutter and a relay race with mini obstacle courses. Carter and her SWEET Melanin sisters took inspiration from the Korean TV show, wanting players to feel like they were in the real game.
Organizers dedicated a lot of time to preparing for the event — they made cookies, set up each game and organized a concession stand where attendees could purchase lemonade and snacks.
“It was a lot of work, but in the end I had my e-board team, so they have made it kind of easier for me,” Carter said. “I’m happy with the turnout, and it turned out really good for our first time.”
Carter wasn’t the only one walking away from the event with a sense of accomplishment. Among the standout competitors, Xavier Perry defeated the competition and took home the win.
Perry competed alongside friends who were mainly in it for fun. While he felt confident about his team’s chances of winning, the surprise obstacle relay caught him off guard.
“We were expecting ‘red light, green light,’ but we weren’t expecting the end games,” Perry said. “But it was fun overall.”
Perry described the event as one that would be a “great opportunity” to socialize with new people and enjoy games that offered prizes along with incentives to draw students out and get them involved.
“I think events like these are great, especially to meet new people and get to know new people,” Perry said. “I like how they added an incentive. More people will show out for an incentive, and I feel like more events should happen like this throughout campus.”
While Perry was in the moment of action, others like Arianella Myers enjoyed the thrill of the games from the sidelines. Myers attended to cheer on a friend, adding to the vibrant energy of the crowd.
“I was most excited to see what it actually was and what games were going to be a part of it,” Myers said. “And then I did want to see my friend Aaliyah win.”
Myers applauded the efforts to mimic the games in the TV show, as well as the elements that went into bringing the event to life.
“Events like these are important for the community, and they’re a good way to network, and also to get a lot of the school tension out of the body and shift our mindsets,” Myers said. “College isn’t all about school. It’s about the connections you make, and I made some connections today that were very fun.”
Carter hopes to do another “Squid Games” event in the future. In the meantime, SWEET Melanin is already gearing up for its next gathering — a “Wild ‘n Out” event set for April 15, and the group invites students to come out and join the fun.
To contact the Features editor, email features@mtsusidelines.com.
For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, and follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on X and Instagram at @mtsusidelines. Also, sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
