Armed with nectar sticks, students fluttered through a butterfly garden set up by the Student Activities Board and interacted with insects on the Ronnie Williams Center Lawn on Aug. 29.

Elijah Thompson, SAB president, said, “I’d say it’s been pretty successful.”

”One thing that we’re always looking for is for events that students like, and that’s why we take it so seriously like having people sign in,” he said. “We want to make sure that you know, at the end of the day, this is your guys’ campus. You guys should be able to decide what you want to see on campus. This is something that we’ve done twice now, and it’s been pretty good both times.”

Sage Douglas, a freshman biology major, said, “It’s really beautiful just being able to do this because they provide the tools for you. It’s not just walking out in nature, just randomly seeing them. You’re actually going to be up close with them too.”

Demi Osundolire, a junior economics major, said, “I’ve never been this up close to butterflies before.”

“They’re very cute,” she said. “Some of them are unfriendly, though, and then some of them are too friendly.”

Keaton Brasfield, a freshman marketing major, said, “I feel like a Disney princess.”

He said the butterfly garden helps “kids who have sensory needs.”

“Having this whole scenery is nice,” he said.

Cheyenne Barnett, a freshman criminology major, said, “I love it. It helps me decompress and destress. Just going to get the butterflies is fun, especially when they’re all huddled in the corner.”

Meecah Collins, a freshman chemistry major, said, “I love how fluffy they are. I love their little bellies.”

Adrionna Dent, a freshman biology major, said, “They’re really pretty, and they’re cute on camera.”

She said she had never caught a butterfly.

Michah Edwards, a freshman biology major, said, “I want to catch a lizard. Y’all should have a lizard garden.”

Janie Reid, a sophomore exercise science major, said, “The butterflies just come up to you so easily.”

“I love butterflies. I have them tattooed all over my body,” she said.

Michelle Hardwick, a sophomore majoring in sociology and minoring in psychology, said, 

“I got some [butterfly tattoos], too.”

Alex Darby, a freshman environmental science major, said, “I raised a bunch of butterflies when I was a kid.” 

“This is my environment. Nature’s my thing,” she said.

Tamaya Clemens, a junior marketing major, said, “I love butterflies. I remember I was walking my dog one day, and a monarch got on my finger and stayed there for a while.”

Jessica Brantly, a sophomore marketing and management major, said her grandma, Jean Greene, collected butterflies.

“She just always surrounded her house with them,” she said.

She said they used to visit a butterfly garden in Branson, Missouri.

“That was my thing with her,” Brantly said. “Rest in peace.”

A butterfly landed on her nose and she said it made her feel like Snow White.

Trey Massingill, a SAB graduate assistant, said SAB got the idea for a butterfly garden from the National Association for College Campus Activities.