Over the course of the weekends of Oct. 22 to 24 and 29 to 31 there were a plethora of Halloween events on campus. Some were spooky, some were musical, and some were both. After a year of limited campus events due to COVID-19, students turned out for Halloween 2021.
On Oct. 22, The Student Activities Committee (SAC) had over 120 participants attend pumpkin painting in the Pause from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Additionally, on Oct. 23, the Music Entertainment Committee (MEC), After Dark Committee (ADC) and SAC held the St. Olaf Spooktacular: Halloween Carnival where they collaborated with many different groups like Northfield Notes, D-Vine, and Men’s Rugby. They held performances with St. Olaf campus bands, a haunted walk through the Jungle, and offered tarot card readings. MEC Coordinator Lily Braafladt ’23 said that there was even more turnout than they had expected for the tarot card readers in the Lair. Due to this success, Braafladt and MEC hope to hold another tarot card reading event in the future.
Braafladt, SAC Coordinator Zoe Golden ’22, and ADC Coordinator Sandra Chimutsipa ’23 were inspired to hold Spooktacular through reminiscing on their own elementary school carnival experiences.
“I like to work with people at this school and know the different groups and people out there [so we can] come together to make something like Spooktacaular,” Golden said. “That was another big goal of mine this year with SAC was to better collaborate with different groups on this campus.”
The following weekend of Oct. 29-31 included even more collaborative events. It kicked off with Harry Potter Night on Oct. 29, which included a themed dinner in Stav Hall from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and a movie, games and events in Holland Hall from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. SAC worked with groups like St. Olaf Outdoors Club (OUTS), the Wellness Center, Ole Tap, and St. Olaf College Democrats to host rooms with various wizarding world themed activities.
Executive Assistant of SAC and Chair of the Committee for Harry Potter Night Audrey Hoehner ’23 shared that her favorite part of Harry Potter night was “the interaction of all of the clubs getting to do Harry Potter related things and [how] everyone just has a good time.”
ADC held a Murder Mystery Night in Buntrock 142 from 9:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., where students went looking for clues around campus. The following day, Oct. 30, ADC also held the Halloween Pause Dance that started at 10:30 p.m. and ended earlier than the planned time of 12:30 a.m. due to the lack of masking. If students were looking for a different type of activity, SAC held a special Halloween movie screening of “The Corpse Bride” in Tomson 280 at 9:00 p.m.
On the actual day of Halloween, Oct. 31, MEC hosted a Phoebe Bridgers Halloween in Viking Theater from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Beyond MEC, ADC, and SAC, there were also many clubs that held their own Halloween events. Ultimately, there were plenty of ways for St. Olaf students to enjoy the spooky season and get some sweet treats.
