Of all the spooktacular events that happen all over Transylvania University’s campus during the Halloween season, the annual Haunted Hallway is a long-lasting tradition that many students look forward to more than anything else. Dressed in their scariest outfits, the Student Activities Board hosts a haunted ‘house’ in the basement of Poole Residence Hall. Students are welcome to enter if they dare to experience the unexpected horrors that exist on our campus. 

The theme of this year’s Haunted Hallway was phobias, with promotions for the event asking, “What is your biggest fear?” Entering Poole on the night of October 25th, it was impossible to expect the terror that was to come, but tensions and excitement rose as dozens of students lined up throughout the night to experience the madness. After a long wait that only further built anticipation, it was finally time to descend into the darkened hall below. 

Entering the hallway, you took hold of a chain as a guide led everyone through distinctly designed rooms that brought many common fears to life. As we slowly made our way through the hall, we saw crawling clowns, medical procedures gone awry, and sinister spiders dotting every surface. We even passed through a claustrophobic tunnel with dedicated scare actors on the other side waiting to scare us. The Haunted Hallway presented its visitors with a fast-paced flurry of fears before permitting them to return to the world above.

The eerie night took an unexpected turn when the fire alarms of Poole began blaring, sending everyone into a frenzy of panic– was this another evil trick of Poole’s ghouls and goblins? Thankfully, the truth was much simpler: a fog machine set off the alarms and caused a short hiatus of hauntings. After patient patrons waited for around 20 minutes, the scares continued as they were before, and well into the night to make up for lost time.

Haunted Hallway was just one of the events sponsored by SAB during ‘Raf Week’, a week-long celebration of both the eponymous professor and the Halloween season. Other events included a ghost tour through Gratz Park, trick-or-treating in Back Circle, a night of murder mystery board games in the Campus Center, and, of course, PumpkinMania, the annual event where campus and community members come together to carve pumpkins to be featured on the steps of Old Morrison.

On Saturday, October 28th, the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and the Kappa Alpha Order teamed up for a chili cook-off philanthropy event in the Campus Center. Organized by the two service chairs of the fraternities, Sean Gannon of Delta Sig and Bennet Fain of KA, the cook-off went off without a hitch. Inside was a slew of flavorful chilis, ranging from custom, student-made recipes to that of grandmas that had been passed down through the years. It wasn’t all classic red chilis either; there were a few white ones, some spaghetti chilis, and a couple of cooks snuck in a tomato soup as well–a surprising hit with tasters.

A select few were asked to weigh in with their opinions on the 19 distinct chilis that were presented. The general consensus was that the smooth dark chili made by the team, “Taste of the Nile,” was one of the best and most refreshing chilis. However, one brave eater toughed out all 19 chilis with no breaks in between and said that the white chili made by the “Sweethearts,” team was the most delectable around. There were also rumors that The Rambler’s very own Jack Thomas had the spiciest chili of the entire cook-off. After witnessing firsthand the heat of the chili, it was not nearly as spicy as this reporter had hoped.

The cook-off ended with the official judges weighing their opinions on whose chili was the best of the best, with the winners being “Two Dads and a Son,” a team made up of Sean Gannon and their parents. They took home the gold with their divine red chili that won over the taste buds of the judges. There was also voting for the fan-favorite chili, with every

taster at the cook-off voting on their favorite chili of the day. The team “Texas Chili Bowl” made a scrumptious Texan chili that claimed the hearts of the masses, taking home the honorable accolade.

It was a heated competition between the contestants, but at the end of the day, everyone had a blast. From the cooks who gave their best to impress everyone, to those who took time out of their Saturdays to eat some spectacular chili, it was a day to remember here on campus. This reporter will make sure to show up next year to see what amazing chilis are awaiting the next top prize.

After years of behind-the-scenes efforts, a beauty product machine has finally taken Transy another step in the right direction. The beauty product machine, distinct from a vending machine both due to the significance of its function and what it represents for this campus, sits adjacent to the multicultural room and pool area of the Campus Center, fully stocked with Black hair care products. 

This machine was installed thanks to a joint effort between Transy’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion department (DEI) and Melanie Day, owner of ‘You’ve Got Curls’ as an effort to make students feel more at home on campus. Day has worked in the Black hair care industry for nearly two decades and has been part of a multi-year effort to make these products available on college campuses. 

“I’ve worked with a lot of clients who are students, and the question has been the same: they are moving to a new place, and they don’t know how to do their hair because of a lack of access to products,” Day said. “I had been thinking about a way I could get quality products on campus for maybe 6-7 years.”

An avenue for this opened up in 2020 when in-person hair care was no longer feasible due to COVID-19. “During COVID is when I had to take a pivot,” Day said. “People were asking ‘Hey, how can I do my hair at home?’ and I started doing one-on-one coaching.”

Day was familiar with other beauty product machines and loved the idea of getting Black hair care products onto campus for students. Day, however, decided to go above and beyond by visiting campuses. 

“I had seen at another school something very similar and I thought this was a great way of getting things on campus for other students,” Day said, “I took it a step further with educating students on how to take care of their hair creating a community behind it, showcasing entrepreneurship all together.”

It was at this point that Transy DEI reached out to Day to organize an event centered around Black hair care. In the late fall of 2021, Day visited campus and witnessed an incredible turnout with an unprecedented level of engagement.

“Dr. Dennie had the idea to have a hairstylist come on campus and talk to the girls about their hair,” Krissalyn Love, director of DEI at Transy stated. “They ended up staying for hours asking questions. She was showing them how to do their hair, and from there Dr. Dennie was like, ‘Alright, clearly there needs to be more things on campus that cater to Black women and their hair.’”

Dr. Deidra Dennie was referenced often by both Love and Day as one of the driving forces behind getting this beauty product machine on campus. “I say her name often because Dr. Dennie did a lot of the formative work and now diversity is starting to be a big thing here at Transy,” Love said, “in all of the excitement it was easy to be like, this was all Transy’s doing when in reality a lot of this groundwork was Dr. Dennie.”

This accomplishment highlights the importance of Black hair care, and providing these products to students is a massive step in the right direction. However, it is just one part of Transy DEI’s larger goal to promote inclusion on campus.

“The main thing we are working on is a newsletter for marginalized groups on campus so that people are aware of the things that marginalized students are doing,” Love said. “It’s sometimes easy for marginalized students to get overlooked, so we wanted to highlight students and highlight the work they are doing.”

Transy Senior and DEI work-study student Alaysia Godfrey is helping with this newsletter and has a unique focus she wants to promote. “One of the goals I have for the newsletter is to highlight seniors of color and their accomplishments at Transy,” Godfrey states. “I feel like a lot of students coming in don’t really see that, and I think it would be nice for them to see that this is possible and this is stuff that I can do in a four-year time frame at Transy.”

The Transy community can look forward to monthly ‘Lunch and Learns’ with DEI for free food and good conversation. Also, be sure to check out  “You’ve Got Curls” at gotcurls.com to see more of what Melanie Day offers for hair care.