sloancj@lopers.unk.edu
Business and Technology Students from the class Entrepreneurship 400 put on a haunted house, “The Haunting of UNK”, in Copeland Hall and on the Bell Tower campus greens last Friday and Saturday night, Oct. 25 and 26.
The ticket booth opened at 8:30 p.m., for those who wanted to buy tickets at the door, and the event started at 9 p.m. Pre-sold tickets were $7 while tickets bought from 8:30 to the end of the night were $10. The last tour left at 11:30 p.m. and went until midnight both nights.
Groups came into the west entrance of Copeland to wait away from the chilly night for their tour to begin. Tours exited from the south Copeland doors and were led through the campus green’s sidewalks and around the bell tower. The concept of “The Haunting of UNK” was that the tour group was now in the “Loper Asylum”, where everyone was able to see what happened to victims of a difficult exam. Some of the characters one would see on the journey were nuns, clowns, a jack-in-the-box, priests performing an exorcism, and an insane student recovering in a hospital bed.
About twenty-five students seemed involved in the process of acting and set-up, both of which seemed extensive. It was clear a lot of work, planning and effort went into “The Haunting of UNK”.
The group that put on the event was a business and technology class from Entrepreneurship 400. For the class, the group had to plan and create their own business.
According to Ashley Einspahr, contact for “The Haunting of UNK” and chief marketing officer, “The first assignment for the class was to come up with ten potential businesses — a haunted house was one of them and it won out.”
Since the class had to complete their second assignment of creating said business by the end of the semester, a haunted house was the perfect idea.
Einspahr continued, “On the first day, our professor said, ‘This is a hard class. If you think it’s going to be easy, you should leave now’.”
This proved to be true, as the process for creating a business that contained all inner-workings and production of “The Haunting of UNK” was a difficult one. First, the class had to present the business idea to the university board for approval. Next, the class had to revise the pitch and present it to the financing board for the College of Business and Technology. For the marketing plan, the team then had to consult Susette Eppler, the Business Administration Office Associate.
Another student involved in coming up with plans and budgets was Megan Miller, the chief financial officer. Along with Miller’s work and that of others, a grant was offered to the students of Entrepreneurship 400 of $1,000. This money made the haunted house expenses such as set-up, costumes and props possible for the class to complete.
While classes from years past have come up with varying businesses to run, perhaps potential students will consider creating a UNK haunted house that can become an annual tradition for Lopers to enjoy for years to come.
