The Zombie Apocalypse is invading campus starting Tuesday as Honors College students sign up to participate in an event known as Humans vs. Zombies, or HvZ.
Founded at Goucher College in 2005, HvZ is a campus-wide game of tag. One person, known as the Original Zombie, must tag humans. Once a human is tagged, they become “infected” and join the zombie team.
Honors facilitated a similar event called Assassins and even did HvZ one year, but the last game of this type was four years ago, said Krista Toten, Honors College coordinator. The idea to sponsor the event this year stemmed from recent honors graduates. When asked to reflect on fond memories of honors, several mentioned Assassins and HvZ.
Students are looking forward to the untraditional game play of HvZ, ” I love creative, innovative games. I’m not much of a traditional sports person, and I usually have no idea what I’m doing – so it’ll be nice to play a game where everyone else is feeling the same thing,” Jake Buller, freshman biology major, said.
Planning began in early fall, but preparations were in full swing by March.
“We’re making it as safe as possible,” Toten said. “I’ve talked to Student Life, I’ve talked to the police department, and we’ve got some things ironed out – some ground rules so that we can keep it safe and not interrupt any classes or anything like that.”
Game play will be continue throughout the week with four missions spread out to keep participants active and involved. Play will not be allowed inside buildings, so students cannot tag each other during class or Chapel, but anywhere on the way to class is fair game.
“I’ve also never participated in an event that’s integrated into everyday life, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out,” Buller said, “especially going to and from classes. I feel like running from a zombie will be a great way to wake up in the morning.”
Students can use items such as Nerf guns or socks to tag opponents. The Honors College will provide Nerf guns and socks, as well as the bandanas that must be worn to identify zombies.
Organizers will announce the first mission Tuesday during the opening rally.
Students interested in participating must be in the Honors College and can sign up on the HvZ website, at http://hvzsource.com/acuhc/, where they can read the complete rules of the game.
Students must also attend at least one of the general information meetings. The next meeting will be from 3-4 p.m. Thursday in the Honors’ Commons. Students will learn rules which have been amended to accommodate the ACU campus, safety and general procedures. If a student is unable to attend a meeting, they must meet with Toten directly.
Students can sign up until Monday.
