Students are urged to design a logo for NIU’s first-ever Taste of NIU, and receive a cash prize if theirs is chosen.

The Student Association Minority Relations committee is urging students to submit original designs. The logo will be used on all publicity for the event, which will kick off Springfest on April 21.

“Contest entries should depict the goals of the Taste,” contest coordinator Santiago Jimenez said.

The purpose of the event is to allow the DeKalb community and NIU students to mix, to provide a festive environment, to offer samples of ethnic cuisines from student groups and outside vendors and to serve as the first event of Springfest.

Logo entries should be submitted to the SA office on an 8-1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper, no later than April 5.

Judd Baker, director of the Holmes Student Center, is having the University Bookstore offer a $25 gift certificate to the winner, Jimenez said.

Full-scale promotions are just getting underway, but already twenty campus organizations have made deposits to hold a booth at the event, Jimenez said.

Canoe rides, a volleyball tournament, a live radio broadcast and a reggae band are among the list of activities planned on the day of the event, Belinda Tijernia, SA Minority Relations adviser, said. Marchelloni and Ponzarotti restaurants are among the establishments slated to be on hand, Santiago said.

The event is modeled after the Taste of Chicago, Tijernia said.

Student organizations interested in participating in Taste of NIU should submit an application to the SA office by April 12. There is a non-refundable entry fee of $13.50, as well as a $10 security deposit covering any clean-up not taken care of by the organization after the event, Jimenez said.

Tijernia said organizations should treat this event as a way to get to meet other campus organizations.

The winner of the logo contest will be announced on April 8.