Come enjoy Snow’s ‘Scare at the Square’
Matt Harris
Staff writer
10-20-2016
EPHRAIM—In Fall of 2014, an unkempt basement resided uselessly below the Suites at Academy Square, the newest housing estate to Snow College, with its various rooms filled with forgotten clutter and the dust of construction.
One good idea changed all of that when the admissions department was looking to add some extra fun to a Snow Blast; the event where Snow hosts interested high school students from all over the state. Halloween was approaching, and admissions faculty had a proposition for the Snow College Office of Residence Life.
“It started when the admissions department approached us wanting to do an event for [visiting high schoolers],” Snow Housing Coordinator Scott Mathie said. “So we joined forces.” As orange leaves fell from withering branches, Snow faculty transformed a dusty basement into a multi-theme haunted house.
The tradition began the Friday before Halloween of 2014 and met with instant success,” Mathie said, “so we said, ‘Hey, let’s do it Saturday night as well,’ and the second night Residence Life ran point on it.”
Now, the Residence Life office has passed the torch to the student-governed Residence Hall Association to keep the tradition strong.
“As soon as we heard about it, we wanted it to be a tradition,” Mathie said. “The thing that’s been surprising about it is how quickly our attendance climbed. Our attendance nearly doubled last year, and it was awesome to see that.”
This year, the Residence Hall Association will proudly present “Scare at the Square,” Ephraim’s premier haunted house. This year will feature new rooms, new themes and new ways to frighten.
“We’re looking to mix up the turns and the themes so that it’s more exciting,” Mathie said. “Especially if people have come the last few years.”
Last year, the haunted house, formerly known as Haunted Hallways, hit big, tallying approximately 2,000 admissions. Don’t worry; they all made it back out.
All of the revenue from the Scare goes into the budget for the Residence Hall Association to provide activities for students living on-campus at Snow. “One of the pillars of the Residence Hall Association is programming,” association vice president Coby Jensen said. “We as an association want to provide opportunities for students to have fun and enjoy college. That’s what we hope for. Our hall reps have done a really good job and are working hard on this haunted house. We’ve been really proud of them.”
Scare at the Square will be open Oct. 27-29, and Halloween night from 8 p.m. to midnight. Admission is $2 for general admission and $1 if a student living on-campus.
