As the calendar approaches November and we creep further into the most commercially controlled segment of the year, we hit our first significant mile
stone: Halloween. Over the years, our culture has developed and nurtured this period of spooky scary skeletons, creating fun and creative activities and content people can dive into. Despite the opportunities staring students in the face, this will be another mismanaged and frightfully boring holiday.
This thought process comes with age. Your late teens and twenties are a time when people leave behind “lame” or “childish” things such as pumpkin carving, haunted houses, and the classic movies we know and love. This attitude leaves us once we realize popularity is not always the best option, and that groupthink can lead to missed opportunities. This attitude creates apprehension. What do you really have if you don’t embrace what the season brings?
If you don’t embrace the season, you most likely will be left with drinking. Within the context of college, it seems every event people are “too cool” for becomes another excuse to drink. Another Thursday night with very little difference in the feelings around it. The effort is hard to justify by looking at it through that lens. Is the assembly of a costume the only way you can justify partying on a Monday night? I find that hard to believe.
The school is trying its best to bring Halloween spirit to campus. On Oct. 14, the Campus Activities Board hosted a themed version of Bingo, and a haunted house will be on campus the weekend before Halloween. The fear is that the status quo will continue despite these efforts. Countless events are held each year; if one attends, they are in the minority. The action of few does not guarantee success, and we see this spoil lots of events with great potential.
The powers that be on campus are pulling out all the stops for a post-COVID Halloween. Despite their efforts, I fear this will be yet another watered-down holiday with parties devoid of meaning or direction. I hope I’m wrong, though, as a successful Halloween means a world of difference in building a campus community.