Brookhaven College hosts Halloween party in Commons Courtyard. 

By Morgan Hanson
Contributing Writer

Ominous music, dry ice fog and the smell of popcorn lingered around Brookhaven College’s Commons Courtyard as students gathered for a Halloween celebration Oct. 26.

Katherine Cadena, Campus Activities Board special events coordinator, said this is the third year CAB has organized the annual Halloween festivity.

“Our theme is Halloweentown,” Cadena, who chose the theme, said in reference to the movie “Halloweentown.” She said she grew up watching the film, which became her favorite part of Halloween.

The 1998 TV-movie “Halloweentown,” and sequel, “Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge,” played in a pop-up theater in the T Building breezeway.

Before Halloweentown, Brookhaven’s Anime Club held its own seasonal celebrations. Costumed students with decorative swords dueled in front of onlookers. Allen Wiese, Student Government Association parliamentarian and president of the Anime Club, was in attendance along with SGA president Esteban Lopez.

Candace Williams, student programs development coordinator, said CAB members decided to begin at 4 p.m. because they felt an earlier time would attract more people.

“This is actually the first event that hasn’t been done at night,” Cadena said.

Williams said this is the second year she has helped CAB with Brookhaven’s Halloween event. She said CAB is almost entirely student driven.

“I think [CAB] is doing very well,” Lopez said. Both student government representatives said a focus on a sense of community and shared activities for Brookhaven students is important.

Williams said another reason for the earlier start was CAB members were going to attend an all-day conference held by the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities the following day.

Brian Borski, director of student life, said the SGA used to be in charge of most student-led events on campus, including the Halloween event. Now, CAB organizes most campus activities so SGA can focus on governmental issues. “They’ve been slowly taking over,” Borski said. “They do a great job every year with all the events they have.”

Lopez said the goal was to allow SGA and other campus organizations to work together in celebration of Halloween.

“The heads of clubs got to know each other really well, and now we’re like, ‘Let’s all do things,’” Wiese said.