“Beaver Fever Fan Zone” is a brand new way Bluffton University hopes to entice students to come to sports events. But what exactly is it?
“The fan Zone is a VIP-type opportunity for students to win special seats at a men or women’s basketball game,” said Kevin White, assistant director to University Event Complex, representative of the Office of Student Involvement and advisor to Marbeck Center Board. “We haven’t really opened it up past that so far, but basically what it is is comfortable seating in a good location and you get pizza and pop. One person can win the experience and invite three of their friends.”
So far, the new fan zone has only been used once, which was during the Nov. 28 double header game according to White. As for the idea itself, White says he and Ropp Hall Director and Intern for the Office of Student Involvement Jacob Black have been sitting on the idea for a while.
“Jacob and I came up with the idea, actually during football season,” said White. “We were kind of just toying with locations to do that and we kind of searched around. We realized that the lodge area in Sommer Center worked.”
The process for winning the privilege to use the fan zone is to find a golden ticket hidden around campus, according to Black.
“We give out hints and clues throughout the week through MCB social media,” said Black. “The first person who finds [the golden ticket] and brings it to Kevin, they win.”
If someone finds the ticket but does not want to go to the game, they’re allowed to give it to a friend instead or simply rehide the ticket, said White.
According to White, Caylin Morstadt was the first to experience fan zone. Morstadt found the ticket in the Marbeck Center.
“My friends and I follow the Marbeck Center Board social media and they post hints when they hide the ticket,” said Morstadt. “After they posted the second hint, we went to the location and found it immediately. The hints are crucial!”
Morstadt said she and her friends enjoyed the experience, and she particularly enjoyed the free shirt she was given.
White says the ticket has already been found for this week’s game as well; it was hidden in the octagonal lounge of Centennial Hall.
“We’re gonna switch up the hiding locations between common buildings,” said White. “Really that just means no dorm rooms… so that everyone has a fair shake. It’ll be buildings kinda everyone goes into.”
White plans to continue and expand the program over the next year.
“We’ll probably do three or four more next semester,” said White. “We’ll switch it up between men’s and women’s basketball games, and then I think maybe next year we’ll try to transition into some volleyball games as well.”
Morstadt also hopes that the Beaver Fever Van Zone gets more support.
“I hope the Beaver Fever Fan Zone takes off and gets a lot of students involved in the scavenger hunt because it’s super fun,” Morstadt said.
With this new scavenger hunt, the students have more incentive to explore campus and engage with campus social media. Students who want access to the hints provided by Marbeck Center Board should check the Marbeck Center Board community page on Facebook.
