By Jiana Martin
On Monday, Sept. 11, the Campus Activities Board’s (CAB) first campus-wide game of Assassin began.
CAB Director, Senior Joey Schunemann, was the brains behind bringing the game to life. He stated that inspiration for this activity came from watching campus-wide games of paintball Assassin featured in the TV show “Community.”
“I had a dream of everyone getting into a chaotic frenzy creating a movie-like representation,” Schunemann explained.
At the beginning of the game, assassins received a fellow student’s name, their target, and a stress ball, their weapon. The goal of the game was simple: kill your target, acquire their target, and move down the hit list until you are the last one standing. Besides a handful of safe zones like the bathrooms, dorm rooms, dining hall, and classes and chapel when in session, targets could be killed at any moment. This meant that students had to always be on guard and ready to run.
With $150 flex dollars on the line, alliances were formed, deals were made, and friends and enemies gave tips.
Senior Alexa Binney enjoyed the short amount of time she survived. A friend aided her assassin, causing her to be killed on the first day. She was glad to be killed early since it allowed her to resume a daily routine without being on high alert. It also made it easier for her to freely track the game’s progress.
“It was fun to spectate,” noted Binney.
For future Assassin events, Binney suggested altering the killing method by, for example, using clothes pins. This was not her first time playing a form of Assassin, but she enjoyed taking part in a larger-scale version and would participate in future games.
The men’s cross-country team created one of the main alliances that survived the longest. One of the team members, Junior Sam Lyon, was a part of this alliance, and he collected 12 kills this way. His toughest kill entailed a stakeout in the Campus Center with help from his cross-country teammates. As a part of the plan for one of the cross-country members to win, Lyon was eventually killed. In the end, the whole team was eliminated.
This was Lyon’s first game of Assassin and he hopes the campus does something like this again. He enjoyed the community building because it allowed him to meet new people as well as reconnect with old friends.
“I had a blast. I’ve always wanted to do something like that,” Lyon said, “and the event did a great job of bringing people together.”
With 104 participating students, Schunemann is happy with how the event turned out.
“Overall,” Schunemann said thoughtfully, “the reception was great.”
Schunemann received various forms of feedback regarding adjustments to the rules and randomizing the list better. If CAB organizes another Assassin game, there will be changes and improvements.
Two finalists remain, and it is yet to be announced who the official winner is. However, plans are in development for revealing the champion.★
