Every year, the late October night’s breeze is matched by a departure from pedestrian jeans and sweatshirts to outfits strictly reserved for the last week of October. This year, Yalies kicked off the Halloween festivities by celebrating what is colloquially dubbed as “Halloweekend” from the night of Friday, Oct. 26 to Sunday, Oct. 28.
At celebrations ranging in scale from suite parties to residential-college-organized events, Yalies wore costumes and danced to the tune of both modern favorites such as Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” and Halloween classics like Bobby Pickett’s “Monster Mash.” But to make celebrations safer and more inclusive throughout the weekend, Yale’s Community and Consent Educators introduced several new community initiatives.
This year, according to their website, the CCEs aimed to address the fact that some students feel pressured to wear a sexualized costume, even if they are not necessarily comfortable with the idea. To combat this issue, the CCEs held events where they provided materials for students to create their own costumes, while also making sure that Yalies think about how comfortable and warm their costumes would be.
CCE Project Coordinator William Roberts ’19 noted that to make campus events more inclusive, the group not only worked to plan and staff a cool-down room at the Pierson Inferno but also helped coordinate pre-YSO show Halloween events and YSO show viewing parties. In addition, the CCEs publicized events from “different sectors of campus life” on the group’s Halloween event calendar, according to Roberts.
For many on campus, Pierson College’s Inferno dance on Saturday was the highlight of the weekend. John Kim ’22 described the dance as “packed, but still fun with free accessories.”
Caleb Crayton ’22 said that “Halloween provided a special environment to the celebration,” especially since he had some friends from other universities visiting campus at the time.
Other residential colleges also joined the Halloween festivities. Branford College and Grace Hopper College both held so-called “liquor treating” on Saturday night — a twist on trick-or-treating where students could walk to different rooms throughout the college to party, dance and have food, as well as both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks — according to an email sent out by the Branford College Council.
Despite the buzz of activity across campus, some students decided to have a calmer weekend. Eugene Thomas ’22 said that he decided to stay in his room due to fatigue and deadlines he had the following week. Rather than going out this weekend, he said that “Hallowoads” — a Wednesday Halloween rendition of a dance party at Toad’s Place — would be when he would celebrate Halloween. Thomas said he believed Halloweekend was just an introduction to the plethora of Halloween-themed events going on throughout this upcoming week.
Yale’s CCE group consists of 57 students.
Brian Cho | brian.cho@yale.edu .