UMW students ghost campus for Halloweekend

MARTINA PUGH
Staff Writer

Eagles all over campus have been decorating their dorm rooms and apartments for Halloween however, this holiday at UMW is complicated. Despite several clubs and organizations hosting events, some students still decide to leave campus to experience Halloween weekend at larger institutions. 

According to the Assistant Director of New Student Arrival and Programs and UMW class of 2020 alumna, Lily Lester,  students’ desire to experience parties at larger institutions is not unique to this year. 

“I feel like when I was in school, there was this big rush of everybody going to other schools for Halloween like they would go to JMU or [Virginia] Tech and go hang out with their friends from high school and go to Halloween parties there,” she said.

Because UMW does not have university-affiliated Greek life, many students go off-campus to seek it out during the holiday weekend. Some, like senior environmental science major Holly Anthony, plan to travel to neighboring universities to join in the fun. Anthony says she will be spending the weekend at George Mason University, which does have fraternities and sororities and has an undergraduate enrollment rate over 7x higher than UMW. 

“I think that people go off campus just because we are so close to other schools that are bigger and that have bigger celebrations for Halloween weekend. Likewise, it is a fun time to reconnect with friends, who may go to other universities,” she said. 

Even though some students may choose to celebrate off campus, others have created their own streams of entertainment throughout the UMW community. 

“My roommate and I are having a big Halloween party,” said junior creative writing major, Heather Smith. “We’re doing Halloween trivia and we’re also watching Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

For those who choose to stay on campus, the Office of Student Activities and Engagement intends to host a variety of activities to maintain energy surrounding the holiday with their latest event, Scary Washington. 

“There’s going to be tons of free candy,” said Lester. “We’ll do spooky puzzles in Student Activities. We’ll have multiple games, including a witch hat ring toss and a pumpkin tic tac toe, which is something that we did last year too. We’ll also have a photo booth.”

Scary Washington will take place on Halloween from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Additionally, the UMW NAACP will be throwing a party in the underground, Class Council will host a spooky maze and many other organizations will have on-campus events to keep students entertained.  

There are opportunities for students to dress up in costume at events like Hallowingo, which is Halloween-themed bingo where people can get an extra board if they attend in costume. 

“Hallowingo is gonna be so big this year,” said Smith. 

For those who choose to stay on campus and enjoy the festivities, UMW is not the only place where people can celebrate, the Fredericksburg community is also tuned into the holiday spirit. 

“Last year for Halloween I did trick or treating around the neighborhood,” said Smith. “I thought we would get cussed out by parents, like, ‘You’re too old,’ and we got handfuls of candy.”

Although UMW may not be home to large parties, the community facilitates an environment that promotes various activities that people may not find in other places. Going off campus for Halloween allows people to be exposed to aspects of UMW that they may be taking for granted.

 “I think that it shows that we do have our own events that other schools cannot do because of their size,” said Anthony 

Traditional events at UMW are what make the institution special and despite the lack of stereotypical events hosted by larger institutions, students are still able to find the value in what the university has to offer.