University Star

Among the stresses and demands of college, one group on campus is making fun and adventure a priority.

The Adventure Club was formed by Ryan Elliott, international studies senior, in spring  2011 as a recreational organization to host activities on and off campus. He currently serves as the club’s president.

“We do a whole myriad of events,” Elliott said. “We play capture the flag in The Quad bi-monthly, we go camping (and) we go hiking.” 

Elliot said Adventure Club’s most popular activity is Humans Versus Zombies, derived from an event by a similar group from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. The activity has attracted a swarm of participants. Approximately 500 students were in the last round.

The game starts with one player as the zombie, wearing a bandana on the head. Everyone else starts as a human, armed with a Nerf toy weapon, sock balls and a bandana tied around the arm. The zombie players try to “infect” all the human contestants, and usually the undead population grows. The humans try to “survive” for a week.

“We look like a giant group of kids playing around,” said Sally Fox, club event coordinator. 

The activity had its first round in spring 2011, but has since stopped from conflicts with campus administration. Elliott remains confident the club will resolve its differences with the school and resume the activity.   

Other Adventure Club activities include capture the flag, held every other Monday in The Quad, and river cleanups. 

“I love our river cleanups,” Elliot said. “It’s just a nice, chill time. You get to relax, you get to hang out in the sun, hang out with friends and clean up the river. Now that the weather is so beautiful, as it is today, we will be doing a lot more river activities.”

Club meetings take place 5 p.m. Thursdays at the LBJ Student Center. Leaders schedule and coordinate events, but suggestions for new activities are allowed from regular participants.

“Anyone who wants to come out to a meeting, or just to talk to me or Ryan—their input is really valued,” said Catie Pennington, environmental studies senior and club vice president. “We welcome what everyone wants to do. We did hiking in Purgatory Creek because someone suggested it.” 

Adventure Club events are free, and participants are welcome to provide their own supplies.