Our View: Making friends with humans and zombies

DKS Editors

Students bore bandanas, Nerf guns and war paint last week as students participated in the campus-wide “Humans vs. Zombies” game. Students had the chance to be either a human or a zombie in the game; the two teams fought each other from 8 a.m. April 24 to 8 p.m. Monday outside buildings on the Kent State campus.

Students wore bandanas on their heads to indicate they were tagged as a zombie, and they wore bandanas on their wrist to indicate they were a human.

“We encouraged everyone to go to class and not skip [for the game],” said Matt Trayers, a senior entrepreneurship major who started the game, “but the walks between the math and science building got interesting.”

Trayers said got the idea from the Human vs. Zombies game during winter break.

“I saw the game online and thought that I really wanted to do it,” he said.

He got permission from the university to hold the game in late spring, and invited students to join through a Facebook page. Originally, it was only him and a couple of friends when he started the event, but invites spread to more than 1,000 students. Trayers said approximately 300 played the game last week.

The students involved in “Humans vs. Zombies” were diverse, not exclusive to a single major or organization. They were nerds, bookworms and athletes playing the game. Students made friends with people they might never have met, had they not gotten involved in the campus-wide game. People were brought together with others they didn’t know, which usually doesn’t happen at the end of a semester.

It also taught students useful teamwork strategies they can use in class or work, as the two teams fought to either avoid zombies or to catch humans. It was a good stress reliever to help students calm down before finals, too.

We want to encourage students to take advantage of these team-building games or activities while they are still in college. Campus-wide activities should be held more often at Kent State because students don’t always get the opportunity to meet and connect with students outside their majors and student organizations.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.