October is a month notoriously busy with midterms; it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the schoolwork. But for Oxford students, Halloweek is something that everyone can look forward to.
Hosted by Oxford’s Student Activities Committee (SAC), Halloweek consists of an event every night from Oct. 25 to 29 to celebrate Halloween.
The preparation for the festivities began in the summer. SAC members broke up into three ad hoc groups: one for Monday; one for Tuesday and Thursday; and one for Wednesday and Friday. For each group, there were two executive members in charge of that evening’s program.
Halloweek kicked off with “Dooley’s Sweet Demise,” an event where students solved the mystery of Dooley’s death by going to different stations around Oxford’s campus, earning sweet treats along the way. Successful investigators received an SAC shirt if they solved the mystery.
SAC President Anya Kasubhai (22Ox) was thrilled with the turnout for Monday’s event and excited to provide students with fun activities such as the mystery.
“Overall, it went really well; we had a lot of people come,” Kasubhai said. “We hope to just brighten up the campus a bit and give students a break from schoolwork.”
“Paint and Sip” took place in the Oxford Student Center on Tuesday, where students could paint pumpkins and square canvases while enjoying apple cider and hot chocolate. Wednesday continued with food festivities, and students could watch “Twilight” in Williams Hall while indulging in various snacks and drinks. Many students enjoyed the diversity of activities across the week.
“I didn’t know I had such artistic talent for drawing on canvas,” Caroline Li (23Ox) said. “It was so nice to decorate my dorm with the canvas with little ghosts that I drew. Wednesday’s movie was also a highlight with the lights off and the skull light in the front. It was awesome to have all of us make the same reaction when Edward walks into the dining hall.”
Even as the week was coming to a close, there was no shortage of events. “Frightful Frolic,” a haunted house adventure in Candler Hall on Thursday, gave students another opportunity to get a OxSAC shirt by finding them hidden throughout the building. To create this spooky setting, the hall was pitch black, with spider webs lining the walls and SAC staff dressed as ghosts. As if the hall was not scary enough, suspenseful music and a television set playing black and white videos added to energy.
Even before the event started at 8 p.m., there were huge lines outside of Candler Hall. For many, the haunted house was the perfect event to bask in the Halloween spirit.
“It was the best night in the entire week for me,” Iris Zheng (23Ox) said. “It felt so good to take a break off all the tests and have fun.”
The last event for Halloweek was a collaboration between SAC and Oxford Sexual Assault Peer Advocates (OxSAPA) called “My Costume Is Not Consent.” The party was a celebration of safe sex, consent, safe practices and connecting students with resources on campus. Many students came wearing all kinds of costumes, and they danced the night away at the Oxford Student Center. Needless to say, it was the perfect end to an eventful week.
“My friends and I had so much fun dancing,” Nina Shangguan (23Ox) said. “I love seeing people in all kinds of costumes which I don’t get to see normally.”
