By Kamisha Harris and Justin Jabs
The Campus Activities Board hosted a Halloween Extravaganza in the UW-Milwaukee Student Union on October 31. The event lasted half a day.
The Extravaganza began at noon on Halloween, lasting until midnight when the calendar turned to November. Activities took place in the Wisconsin Room, the Gasthaus and room 280 of the union.
Andres Elizondo, sophomore, attended to experience the free haunted house, which went live at 7 p.m. in the Wisconsin Room.
“It’s free, so it’s no loss to me to see what it’s about,” Elizondo said.
Student Association of Milwaukee President Tereza Pelicaric hoped the event could “touch more students and get more students aware of campus activities.” She wanted students to have a “good time” while at the university.
“We hope … to reduce students from straying away from our campus during Halloween and those festivities,” Pelicaric said. “We want to keep everyone close to home and make sure they’re enjoying Halloween.”
Elizondo, however, thought students would still attend late-night parties on Halloween night despite CAB’s event. Freshman Alexis Smith agreed, saying some people attended the Extravaganza just to stop by until the major events around began.
“People will still drink,” Smith said.
Haruka Muramoto and Sinae Shin are foreign exchange students who attended the Extravaganza. They came to meet new people and enjoy what the campus has to offer, they said.
CAB improved on at least one experience from their last event, when Mythbusters co-host Adam Savage visited UWM to speak. Vice Chairman Steve Heimerl told the UWM Post in mid-October that clarity on who can and cannot attend portions of an event was one lesson CAB learned.
For the Extravaganza, fliers and advertisements clearly dictated which parts were open to the public and which parts were only for students with their ID. The public was invited to the haunted house and a live concert in the Gasthaus from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., while the dance that followed was only for students.
