Saint Mary's students got in the Halloween spirit early last night as Holy Cross Hall and Dalloway's hosted campus-wide events. The activities, put on by the Holy Cross Hall Council, resident advisors, and Residence Hall Association (RHA) were all free and open to students and the children of Saint Mary's faculty and staff.
In years prior, Holy Cross has hosted Haunted Tunnels, a haunted house set up in the sub basement of the hall open to students and children of faculty and staff. However, this year, due to construction and low-hanging pipes, Saint Mary's Security said it would be safer to cancel the activity. As a result, Terrie Paul, Holy Cross Hall director and the rest of the Holy Cross Hall Council came up with a contingency plan.
"Security told us we can't go on with Haunted Tunnels because they are undergoing construction and it's a safety concern for the students," Paul said.
Instead, Holy Cross hosted "Ho'Cro Halloween" in the hall lounges. Activities included ghost stories, coloring for the children, drinks and snacks from 8 to 10 p.m.
In addition, all the residence halls on campus were given the opportunity to host Trick-or-Treaters from 6 to 8 p.m.
Construction aside, Paul also attributed some of the stress of preparing the events to getting a late start on hall council this year.
"Hall council was off to a slow start, especially since Halloween is really soon in the year. This is a Holy Cross tradition and generates money for Hall Council," she said. "But there was an excellent turnout and the girls really took control of a last minute situation."
Dalloway's, the coffee shop on campus, also put on "Haunted Tours" which is one of their most attended events, Stephanie Anton, Dalloway's commissioner said. It occurs annually.
The Haunted Tour is a walk around campus hosted by the Dalloway's Board. The guide of the tour stops at a certain place to tell a scary story related to the event, Anton said. There was free hot cider, cookies and candy available at Dalloway's.
Anton said the board has been preparing for the event for about two weeks and focused mostly on the decorations. The event was open to the public, but mainly students attended, Anton said.
