QuadWorks transformed the lawn of the Connell Student Center into a welcoming, autumn festival at Beartoberfest as the first chill of fall hit campus on Oct. 18. The student-run entertainment board filled the evening with pumpkin painting, candy-corn guessing games and screened the Halloween classic, "Hocus Pocus."
In the dim evening light, the lawn lit up with conversation and laughter as students spread out blankets across the grass, roasting marshmallows over tabletop flames and sipping sodas provided by QuadWorks as the movie played on a giant inflatable screen. As cool wind passed through the breezeway, students bundled up in Mercer sweatshirts and pajama pants for a relaxing, carefree Saturday night with their peers on campus.
“I think it’s just a good chance for you to have fun, relax while you don't have exams.” Jonathan Lee ‘29 said. Lee came to Beartoberfest with friends who assembled s’mores as he chose to unwind at the event, juggling on the lawn.
The glow-in-the-dark attraction provided an extra spurt of entertainment for students, exemplifying the easy-going and laid back environment of the event.
QuadWorks membership branch, QuadSquad, encouraged students to share ideas for future events. “We wanted to do something different where we let the students pitch what they wanted to see on campus,” Hunter Betsill ‘27, QuadWorks member said. This collaborative approach, he added, allowed members better insight to the vision of what events students want to plan and attend.
“The candy-guessing competition was suggested by students, so was the marshmallows and the pumpkin painting,” Lina Kern ‘29, who is involved in QuadSquad for the first time this year, said. “I was actually the one who suggested that we show a movie on an inflatable projector.”
QuadWorks invites students to a Halloween themed Puzzle and Pizza Night where teams will race to complete puzzles while enjoying free food and prizes in the Connell Student Center this Friday at 7 p.m.
