Hundreds of hungry Cerritos College students lined up on Wednesday, Jan. 13 in Falcon Square to get a free In-N-Out meal, part of the festivities for Welcome Day.
The event coordinated to boost the beginning of the semester, offers a free cheeseburger and Lays potato chip bag to any Cerritos College student with a school ID updated with the latest Spring 2016 sticker.
“There’s one tomorrow night too,” said Amna Jara, the coordinator of Student Activities at Cerritos College.
“This year we are switching up […] we will do it on the third week with club day,” she continued, reiterating that there are also no drinks with the meal.
“That is not part of our contract, so we can’t. Plus we’re a Pepsi campus,”she concluded.
The line of students waiting to get a free burger was long, most of which tried to stay amused on their phone, but morale was boosted with a few hype-man moves from on-hand Cerritos College mascot Franco The Falcon.
Alex Acosta, undecided major, with an appetite for burgers said, “I’m hoping to get a burger soon, I’m really hungry.”
“Looks like probably 30 minutes of just standing here,” he continued, gazing upon the hoards of hungry scholars.
“During the day there are more like a 1000 people, while there’s about 500-750 people at night,” said Jazmine Sanchez, assistant to the ICC representative.
“Typically there are more older people that are here at night and don’t know about the event going on, so they miss out on the opportunity.”
Elmer Milan, a physical therapy major lending a voluntary hand to the In-N-Out crew stated, “All they need is their current ID, with the sticker.”
The near 70-year old burger franchise is highly regarded throughout the west coast for its employee-oriented workplace and higher pay wages to workers.
Some students noted the newly placed In-N-Out franchise restaurant location adjacent to the college on Alondra Boulevard, and one even went as far as to dismiss the truck all together.
William Lynn, a geology major, said with major skepticism about waiting in line, “It doesn’t really seem worth the time, you know? ‘Cause I can get it for three dollars across the street.”
Acosta countered, “It’s worth it.” reassuring that the juicy single burger is well worth the wait.
