Jennings Hall hosted its first Halloween event on Thursday, October 31.
Each floor featured decorated treat stations where students could pick up candy. The event concluded with a costume contest and a prize awarded to the floor with the best-decorated treat station.
“Dean Randle, at the beginning of this semester, wanted us to do more social things than we were already doing,” said Dr. Steven Patterson, an associate professor of history who served as the organizer of the event. “So, he tasked us on a committee and we bounced around some ideas. We’ve always thought we needed to use Jennings and the courtyard as much as possible. So, we thought, let’s do Halloween, and make it a costume contest as well.”
Patterson received the award for best decorations after transforming the Jennings conference room into a design inspired by King Tut’s tomb.
“You’d think that it wouldn’t mean as much, but you win the award from the ‘celebrity’ judges, and it feels pretty good,” Patterson said. “The students put in a lot of hours in here yesterday. It is good to be with the students like that in a group project together. They were in historical methods, and Dr. Connelly let them out of class to witness it as well. It’s just part of a good time.”
The first floor was transformed into the Land of Oz. The entrance became Munchkinland, and students followed a yellow brick road, which stretched through all three floors, to each treat spot.
The third floor featured a haunted house theme, complete with caution tape draped over the doorway in. Dark curtains framed either side, while candy was tucked away in a decorated corner.
Many students and faculty members also competed in a costume contest for gift cards to The Froghead Grill. The contest was judged by a panel which included various library and admissions staff. Outfits ranged from a McDonald’s employee to Darth Jar Jar Binks. Freshmen Andrew Wallis and Andrew Pierce came out on top, dressed as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Wallis and Pierce were not expecting to compete in the competition, but happened to be in the right place at the right time. Their winning costumes were inspired by their love of westerns.
“My grandfather really liked westerns,” Wallis said. “I enjoy watching westerns. Some of my favorite movies are the Clint Eastwood ‘Man with No Name’ Trilogy movies, so spaghetti westerns. I bought this pancho in Colorado, but it was made in Mexico. It was really comfortable, so I was like, why not incorporate that into my costume?”
“Some of my favorite pieces of media have been westerns, but I haven't seen as many as he has,” Pierce said. “This outfit was heavily inspired by ‘Red Dead [Redemption] II,’ which is one of my favorite games. I really like the style and the character.”
Runner ups included students dressed as a young Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Cleopatra.
This inaugural Halloween event is just the first of many future student events coming to Jennings.
