The Holmes Student Center will transform Alumni Court, at the southwest corner of Normal Road and Lucinda Avenue, into a tropical setting today for its annual Hawaiian luau.

Besides exotic food and entertainment, the HSC will give attendees a chance to break a golfing record.

The luau will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. All NIU students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend. Tickets can be purchased at the Blackhawk Food Court for $6.95 plus tax. Student Dining Dollars will be accepted.

“With a bit of imagination you’ll think you are in Hawaii,” said Norm Jenkins, HSC associate director.

The menu features exotic dishes and desserts including roast pork cooked in banana leaves, island ribs and whipped sweet potatoes. While eating, guests will be treated to live entertainment from the band, Caribbean Eclipse.

“Our objective is two-fold  – first, to offer a ‘welcome back’ of sorts to NIU students and staff and second, to have some fun,” Jenkins said.

And in the name of fun, the HSC is offering students and staff a chance to enter the record books as a world-record golf putter.

The mega-putt will be 280 feet, almost as long as a football field, and will be laid out in the Gallery Lounge and Duke Ellington Ballroom from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“Our research has uncovered no evidence that a putt of this length has ever been holed indoors,” Jenkins said.

Besides making a new record, any student or staff member who makes the putt will receive a $100 gift certificate from the University Bookstore.

There is no limit as to how many of these certificates will be handed out, Jenkins said.

“I could really use $100 to the bookstore and it sounds like fun, so I’m probably going to check it out,” senior sociology-criminology major Jessica Gorney said.

All students and staff attempting the putt will receive a 2-for-1 coupon for a Tropical Sno shaved ice treat from the HSC’s Promenade Lounge.

Students are encouraged to stop by both events.

“We hope that everyone visits the Holmes Student Center [today] for great food and fun,” Jenkins said.