CJ Day
The University of Wyoming will hold their annual Safe Treat event today with the help of Residence Life and Dining, Fraternity and Sorority Life and some recognized student organizations (RSO’s). This event allows Laramie residents to bring their children to campus to trick-or-treat, providing an easier and safer alternative to trick-or-treating in the community.
Participants will be able to visit Washakie Dining Center, many of the residence halls and Greek organization houses to not only get Halloween candy, but also participate in Halloween-oriented events like haunted houses and photo opportunities.
“It’s a long-standing tradition, and so of course we wanted to keep it going,” said Erik Kahl, the Assistant Director of the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership. “But we also want to demystify the campus for people that don’t live here, allow them to look inside all these buildings.”
Kahl said the residential aspect of campus can be a bit opaque to those who have never been a student. This event opens up the campus to many people who would otherwise not get the chance to see the inside of a fraternity house or a residence hall.
This event also allows interested RSOs to do community outreach. In previous years, the RSO booths were somewhat out of the way, but this year, the RSO booths have been moved to a more central location, so that more trick-or-treaters have the chance to interact with them. Almost two dozen RSOs plan to make some sort of appearance at the event.
“A lot of these RSOs, and these fraternities and sororities, they use this event to really express their creativity,” said Kahl.
“People nowadays seem to get really excited for Halloween, and a lot of these groups really go all out for Safe Treat.”
Kahl said he feels that, while Laramie as a whole is not particularly unsafe, especially on Halloween, Safe Treat still presents an alternative to regular trick-or-treat that is both safer and easier for everyone.
“In Laramie, you either have these housing divisions where there’s a ton of space between each house, and these unshoveled and icy sidewalks between them, or you have student housing where no one’s going to hand out candy,” said Kahl.
“The campus is well-lit, it’s all close together, and the Laramie Police Department will be in Washakie for the event in case there’s any problems.”
In addition, Kahl said the peripheral events make Safe Treat a better choice than traditional Halloween festivities. Parking should not be an issue, as Transit and Parking will relax the parking restrictions near Washakie so that families can get to the event with minimal fuss.
For those interested, Safe Treat will be held from 4 to 7 PM on tonight, centered on Washakie Dining Center.
