The glitter shoe thrown to Peter Kovacs ’78.

I should probably stop here and add a little context. The original krewes gifted the masses with glass trinkets, which have morphed into today’s larger and shinier beads that are tossed out to the crowds. Zulu originated the decorative coconut as its signature “throw.” Muses carried that tradition a step further and came up with the elaborate glitter shoe, a prized possession on display in many a restaurant and politician’s office—and now also on Kovacs’s keepsake shelf alongside a Zulu coconut and bound copies of the Brown Daily Herald from when he was editor in the ’70s. (Now retired, he was for many years my editor at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, where I’m a columnist.)

There are a million ways to take part in Mardi Gras, and whether you go to see big float parades like Muses or street-level walking, riding, and dancing troupes, chances are that someone from Brown will be part of the show.

Most years I ride Muses next to Chris Gray Faust ’99 AM, a travel editor and former co-worker who now lives in Pennsylvania. On a different float is Maureen Shuh, PhD ’96, an administrator with the National Institutes of Health and the krewe’s volunteer “den mother,” or keeper of the floats on the 364 days a year when they’re not on the streets. Down at street level is Jana Lipman ’96, a Tulane University history professor and  member of the adult dance group Camel-Toe Lady Steppers (yes, you read that right) during parade season, which has what she calls a “feminist and bold vibe.” 

(Left) Kayla Smith ’12 and Chewie at the Barkus dog parade; (Right) Nathalie Jordi ’04 (right) dressed for the Krewe of Red Beans parade.

Jumping into the Carnival mix, both Shuh and Lipman told me, is just what people do in New Orleans.

“If I lived anyplace else I’d be in a book group,” Lipman told me.

There may be more Brown alums among the 1,250 riders in the Muses parade, which includes groups like the Rolling Elvi (Elvis impersonators on bikes and scooters), the Lady Godivas (in nude body suits on horseback) and the Laissez Boys (after New Orleans’ unofficial motto: laissez le bon temps rouler), a bunch of guys in smoking jackets riding motorized recliners.  But Brown alums aren’t just in the Muses, they’re all over Carnival. For example, boutique hotel developer Nathalie Jordi ’04 is in the Krewe of Red Beans. Members make their own costumes from dried legumes; last year Jordi went as “Beanjamin Franklin.”

Yonah Schiller ’93, a rabbi who works for a foundation that supports Jewish education, is part of the Society of St. Cecilia, which dons whimsical costumes on Mardi Gras Day.

Last year Kayla Smith ’12, who designs study abroad programs for universities, and her elderly pup Chewie joined Barkus, which took its name from the float parade Bacchus. The parade theme was Barbie; Chewie donned pink camo and went as a Cajun fishing dog, or “Swamp Barbie.”

(Left) Rémy Robert ’13 cocaptains the Krewe of Wonder Women (part of the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus); (Right) Yonah Schiller ’93, and his wife Allison Schiller march with the Society of St. Cecilia.

There’s even been Brunonian Carnival royalty. In 2014, the writer John Barry ’68 was crowned king of Krewe du Vieux, a politically progressive parade in the city’s French Quarter, or Vieux Carré. The group chose Barry to honor his efforts to get big oil companies to fix damage they did to Louisiana’s disappearing coast, a fight that pit him against then-Gov. Bobby Jindal ’91.5.

Hospitality publicist Rémy Robert ’13 grew up in New Orleans, and while she watched her parents ride in Muses and Bacchus, she didn’t love Carnival as a kid. But when she moved home after graduating and spending a few years in the Northeast, she wanted in on the fun.

Robert is now co-captain of the Krewe of Wonder Women—a loose collection of men, women, and kids who each bring their own take to the comic book icon as part of the upstart “Chewbacchus” parade. More recently she joined a new group inspired by the Laissez Boys called the Chaissez Ladies. As the name suggests, they don comfortable duds and ride tricked-out chaise lounges.

For most, finding a like-minded group is the name of the game. Tara Vega ’07, who plans events for tech companies, says joining Aziza—“a bunch of Black women who like fairies and cosplay as fairies”—kept her from moving on after spending her first year in New Orleans.

“It felt like this sense of community I was looking for, just crafting and making throws (decorated fairy wands) and costumes,” Vega says. “It really made me fall in love with New Orleans in a deep way that I did not expect.”