Coming together for the sixth year, several clubs joined forces to put on an activity-rich convention within the Notre Dame campus community.
LepreCON took place on Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m. The event was sponsored by the Role Playing Game Club (RPG), Sci-Fi Fantasy Club, Board Game Club, Japan Club, Video Game Club and Themed Entertainment Association (TEA).
“I'm not usually someone who goes to a lot of conventions because usually I don't have a lot of time at Notre Dame, a lot of studies, a lot of work, but it feels good that after so long I'm able to actually attend this see a lot of familiar faces, unfamiliar faces,” sophomore Eric Silva said.
Silva, a resident of Duncan Hall, had never attended a convention before, so LepreCON was his first convention experience. While at LepreCON, Silva particularly enjoyed the VR headset and cheering on his friends in the Super Smash Bros tournament.
“I just feel as if I actually belong in a space like this,” Silva said. “At Notre Dame, it feels always about finding your place and finding where you belong. This is definitely the place for it.”
Similar to non-university conventions, the event held three panels, which were hosted by the Sci-Fi Fantasy Club, RPG Club and cosplay group. Carter Powers, a sophomore in Dunne Hall and an attendee of other conventions, enjoyed the panels this year as there have not been panels in LepreCON’s most recent years.
Powers also led and judged the event’s cosplay competition for the second year in a row. The contestants are judged in rounds based on craftmanship, stage presence and skills demonstrated.
“Really it's just about like, allowing people to kind of show off their cosplays because there aren't really any other cosplay events outside LepreCON at Notre Dame to allow people to kind of have an outlet and place to cosplay at least once,” Powers said.
Powers encourages those who might be curious about the event to attend next year.
“I'm always looking for more people to be interested in cosplay and cosplay contests, so if people are interested in next year, I highly recommend putting something together even if it's not super crafted and just coming out and entering,” Powers said.
Sydney Hank, a junior in Lyons Hall and officer of TEA, has attended LepreCON since she was a freshman. She enjoyed the costume aspect of the event for similar reasons.
“I love seeing all the costumes because you don't typically see that at Notre Dame,” said Hank. “Everybody's pretty much wearing like Notre Dame clothing, so to see people really express their creative side, it's really fun to see on this campus.”
At LepreCON, TEA put together an escape room along with a building area for a Hogwarts Lego Castle to promote their Lego building event taking place this Saturday in Duncan Student Center, LegoKingDome. On the flip side, Isabela Moreno, a junior in Ryan Hall, attended the event for the first time this year and found a good community in it.
“To see people come together and kind of show their fun side has been very nice,” Moreno said.
The event additionally offered activities such as RPG Oneshots, Magic the Gathering, Artist Alley, a Mario Kart tournament, Japanese toys, boba and various board games. The event had four giveaways, with the final giveaway ending with a Nintendo Switch Lite and Meta Quest 2 headset.
“The end goal is to make LepreCON less of a group of students and more of an actual convention, and we have certainly been on that track,” RPG president and main event coordinator Andrew Pelham said.
The event is planned by a team of leaders from the host clubs. The planning process began last semester in August.
“Historically, my favorite part of the event is the [Dungeons and Dragons] Oneshots where people can try a roleplaying game for the first time,” Pelham said. “But this year, I was running the show, so I thought it was great to see all of the clubs come together and innovate such an awesome event.”
Carlos Basurto, a sophomore in living in Fisher undergrad, is the president of the Video Game Club. At LepreCON, Basurto simply liked seeing what others were doing, playing Dungeons and Dragons and seeing the artwork.
“The thing I like the most is how community-centered it is. Maybe because I'm now a little bit more familiar with the kind of people they're like, I know most of the precedents and whatnot,” Basurto said.
Basurto also liked how LepreCON differs from other larger events.
“I think it's nice to have the space for you know, individuals, like as opposed to like a big CON where you don't really know anyone. I think this is nice because you get to know people that have the same interests as you that are in your community that you can actually interact with really easily if you choose to,” he said.
Artist Alley provides student artists with a space to sell, showcase and talk with others about their artwork.
“My biggest draw was the Artist Alley,” senior Avery Broughton said. “I think it's just so nice seeing people and their art, but I guess, like a nice surprise, is I didn't know that the Board Game Club was going to be giving out games.”
Broughton and her roommate, Kariana Radabaugh, a senior from Walsh Hall supported the artists by buying stickers. During the event, the two played Tea Dragon Society, a fantasy-themed card game from the Board Game Club.
Neither had attended the event in prior years although they thought the event sounded fun. Matthew Spadafore, a senior in Keenan Hall, is the president of the Sci-Fi Fantasy Club and aided in event planning and execution.
“I just wanted to like shout out everyone in the planning committee,” Spadafore said. “Everyone put a lot of work into this and to see it culminate in such a good turnout is good.”
