Foxes star Christian Fuchs christened De Montfort University Leicester’s (DMU) newly-refurbished Campus Centre by challenging students to play his famous egg game.
The Premier League-winning defender made an appearance at the official opening of the building, which is the home of the De Montfort Students’ Union (DSU) and a base for student life.
Over the past six months, the building has undergone a £3 million overhaul and, along with the DSU’s executive offices upstairs, features student chill-out spaces, shops, and places to eat and drink.
Defender Fuchs – who had earlier in the day taken part in a fashion show as part of the graduation ceremony in which Foxes manager Claudio Ranieri was given an honorary degree – snipped the ribbon to declare the new centre open.
But before that he shared the stage with DSU president Dan Winney and Vice-Chancellor Dominic Shellard, taking questions from the hundreds of students in the audience.
Having become famous for playing pranks on his teammates at LCFC, it was inevitable that Christian would be asked which of his jokes he considered his favourite. His answer was 'the egg game'.
A kind of Russian Roulette with eggs, the game involves two players picking from a box of eggs, with some hard-boiled, others raw. They then smash their choice on the opponent’s head. Famously, Fuchs played this with striker Jamie Vardy.
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At the mention of the egg game, members of DSU produced a box of eggs and Christian turned to the crowd for volunteers. A couple of students got up on stage and a messy contest ensued.
Afterwards, an egg-drenched Jerry Elangam, in the second year of his International Business course, said: “I’ve not met a Leicester City player before so it was great to be on stage with Christian this afternoon.
“I heard roulette mentioned, but not eggs. So, I stepped into it a little bit, but it was fun.”
Christian arrived to performances from DMU’s cheerleading squad, the Saints, and watched an energetic display from the DMU Steppers.
He then cut the ribbon and went to new DSU-run restaurant Milly Lane’s for a specially-created #NoFuchsGiven smoothie. He then stayed to take selfies with the students.
Having been given a tour of the refurbished Campus Centre, along with the rest of DMU’s freshly-transformed campus, Christian said he was impressed with the university.
He said: “It reminds me of the Google headquarters I went to in New York: the glass and the light and the space. It’s very modern and makes you feel relaxed and at ease.
“It’s a really impressive university.”
The new-look Campus Centre is a hub for student life. On the ground floor, visitors can eat or drink at a café selling Starbucks coffee, at Subway or at Milly Lane’s, the campus’ newest eatery run by DSU, selling freshly handmade hot and cold food, coffee and smoothies.
Milly Lane’s also has a licensed bar and will show selected sports matches on 50” Sky Sports TV screens. Money spent at Milly Lane’s is reinvested back into services offered by DSU.
DSU is also installing a new Heat and Eat station where students can microwave food for free.
Also on the ground floor is a Spar and Subway. There is also the DSU-owned charitable accommodation service Sulets and SUpplies, DSU’s shop, selling art supplies stationary and clothing, and offering printing and binding services.
DSU president Dan Winney said: “Through our #YourNewDSU campaign we surveyed a lot of students, asking what they wanted from their new Campus Centre and we’ve incorporated a lot of those ideas here.
“It is designed by students for students, it’s light and friendly and all the services students need are fully accessible.”
Second year Dance student Isabel Pritchard performed with the DMU Saints as Christian Fuchs arrived. She said she was proud to study at DMU.
She said: “The Campus Centre is really nice now, really open and modern. The whole campus feels so much nicer. It’s really exciting to be here and know I’ve got more time to study here.
“Joining the Saints was a great decision; I’ve made some good friends and you feel really part of a family.”
Posted on Wednesday 25 January 2017