On the afternoon of April 2, I was walking to the library and ran into a group of students who were carrying Nerf guns, and had broken up into two teams. They were pursuing and, assumedly, shooting members of the opposite team.
Upon asking a member of the group what organization they were with and why they were seemingly “hunting” other students on campus grounds, I was told that they were part of a group of students who played Humans vs. Zombies once a semester.
The fact that this “game” is not only being played, but is allowed to be played on campus grounds is deeply disturbing for multiple reasons.
Obviously, students sprinting across campus attacking each other is disruptive to students who are simply going about their academic lives going from class to class. The students playing this game obviously had no concern for the students and teachers they were disturbing
Secondly, and most horrifying, students “pretending” to shoot each other on campus is deeply insensitive in light of the recent change in Idaho’s gun laws and previous campus shootings, but this activity also sets an unsettling tone within the campus community.
What does it say to University of Idaho’s community when such violent games are condoned on campus? It sets the precedent that Idaho’s community does not take campus violence seriously and it gives students the ability to joke about the horrors of campus shootings, when such games are allowed to take place right in front of the library and the TLC.
I’m all for fun and frivolity in the springtime, but couldn’t we find a proper playing field away from campus, where students engaging in physical team challenges are seen in their appropriate context?
— Courtney Kersten