putnamjb@lopers.unk.edu
Spooky season was kicked off with the annual haunted house, after cancelling the event last year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Kate DeBord, the University Residence North and South hall coordinator, described the preparation leading up to the event.
“We started meeting mid-September weekly to do costumes and set up activities once a week for about 45 minutes to get everything set up,” Debord said. “All of the housing board members who put it together and the RAs for URS and URN are the tour guides and then it was a volunteer basis for who wanted to be scary, so we opened it up to everybody.”
Students were met with animatronics and actors who helped to welcome Halloween and give students a scare. The tour sprawled throughout URN, taking students through decorated staircases and ominous hallways where students in costumes waited for their next victims. Individual rooms were turned into horror scenes where cobwebs and motion-activated jump scares contributed to a frightening atmosphere.
The event proved popular with students who got into the Halloween spirit. Residence Life staff were pleased by the heavy turnout and the level of student engagement.
“We have some money set aside to do stuff like this for the students, to increase student engagement with community building and get them outside of studying and building some connections with people in other buildings,” said Alex Goracke, Centennial Tower East assistant hall director. “Everybody’s kind of into spooky season right now and the haunted house fits the theme, and it’s not very often you get to just go explore a different kind of dorm as well because you’re kind of stuck in your own. I think there’s a couple reasons that make everybody want to come to this one.”
Students had the opportunity to receive a free scare on campus and meet some new people in the process. Lopers went all out for the haunted house this year, after a year of COVID-19 and cancelled events.
“Events are happening, go to them and stay engaged,” said Anfernee Covarrubias, the Mantor/Randall residence hall coordinator. “Get out of your comfort zone. Get in your courage zone.”
