Colleen Mearon ‘21
Staff Writer
Diversity Affairs of the the Student Government Association presents the first ever “Macktoberfest Warrior Challenge” this 2018 Homecoming weekend. Participating students will be grouped at random and work together for multiple activities, bringing them together in a different way than ever before. The Warrior Challenge will take place on Oct. 26 from 7:00 p.m. p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Warrior Stadium and the Athletic Complex.
The activities will aim to promote teamwork and communication between students, allowing them to build a relationship with other students they may have never met before.
“Some of these events include a blind-folded obstacle course, blindfolded musical chairs, charades and capture the flag,” explained Tiana Lawrence, SGA senator. “Each of these games will require teams to efficiently work together and our hopes are to create group bonding through the process.”
There will be a grand prize given to the winning team as an enticement for participation, which will consist of limited edition Merrimack apparel.
Signing up for the event is easy, allowing students to use their cameras or the Snapchat app to scan the flyers posted around campus. This will bring them to a registration link that closes on Oct. 25.
The new event will take place during Macktoberfest, an annual event at Merrimack. During homecoming weekend, the Macktoberfest tradition provides food, live music and fun activities for students, family and alumni. The Warrior Challenge will add to the excitement and bring the Merrimack community together.
“We believe [homecoming] would be the perfect time to get students out of their comfort zone, into school spirit and interacting with people outside of their friend groups,” Lawrence said.
An overwhelming number of students have shown great interest in the event and are looking forward to participating.
“The Warrior Challenge sounds like a great addition to Homecoming Weekend,” Merrimack sophomore Karina Anderson added. “I like the idea of creating random groups, giving students a way to get to know more people.”
Other students agreed and hoped for other opportunities like this to occur on campus.
Although the Warrior Challenge is one of the first events hosted by Diversity Affairs, the committee is looking forward to adding many more. They hope to make students feel a sense of “togetherness” throughout the Merrimack community, and use specific programs similar to the Warrior Challenge to do so. The ultimate goal is to have Merrimack students appreciate each other and work together.
The Diversity committee would like to promote inclusivity, community and school spirit throughout Merrimack to further enhance the student experience at the school. As a new extension of SGA, Diversity Affairs hopes to make all members of the Merrimack community feel welcome and included on campus.
“We aim to guide the campus in developing a deeper appreciation for all cultures and people by showcasing similarities as well as differences present in all cultures here on campus.” Lawrence continued, “We plan to have exciting and new events, along with activities that target all groups here on campus.”
