With the spookiest season of the year upon us, Campbellsville University is once again hosting its annual Halloween event for students. This year’s Halloween dance is Oct. 31 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. outside the Student Activity Center (SAC), according to the official CU website.
At this event, everyone is encouraged to wear costumes, dance and have fun with friends. Students are to “expect the unexpected,” according to Student Activities director Kylee Miller.
This year, the entire event will be outside the Wellness Center, according to Miller. Due to the fire alarms that were triggered by the fog machines last year, the staff of Student Activities feels it is a safer and better option. Last year, everyone was evacuated from the Student Activities Center (SAC) when the fire alarms sounded, and the event was cut short soon after it had started.
The year before, a similar incident occurred. The dancing of the students caused a cave-in in the flooring.
“I think we were maybe an hour into [the event],” Miller said. “…And there was a student from downstairs who came and got us. We went downstairs, and you could see the floor of the Tiger’s Stand dipping about a whole foot every time they were jumping up and down. You could see that the support beams had already broken.”
This forced an evacuation of all students and faculty, and the repairs took months, leaving the SAC closed indefinitely for a period of time.
One common denominator tied these two catastrophes together, however—a song.
“It was so ironic,” Miller said. “Both years we had to shut it down when Cotton-Eyed Joe was playing.”
This year, calamities should be reduced greatly by having the dance outdoors. In the previous year, the SAC was at full capacity, according to Assistant Residence Life Director Kate Hartlage, which also contributed to the decision of moving it outside. Every year, more and more students have attended the dance.
“The last few years have been really awesome,” Hartlage said. “Students have really showed up and had a great time. We’re hoping to continue the fun.”
The Halloween Dance is made possible with the help of Residence Life, which handle decorating and advertising in the dorms, according to ResLife Director Andrew Vaughn.
“The dance is quickly becoming a fun campus tradition,” Vaughn said. “We hope the event continues to grow and improve each year.”
