Get into the Halloween spirit with Haunted CSU Takeover

Halloween is just around the corner, and the campus is starting to decorate for it. On Wednesday, the second floor of the Centennial Student Union will be decorated for a Halloween takeover hosted by the Student Events Team. 

Namita Basnet, outreach coordinator for the Maverick Involvement Team and different Recognized Student Organizations, spoke about what students can expect from this spooky event. 

“The second floor of the CSU will be covered in darkness. We want it to be dark because Halloween is like a real ghost story in the real form,” said Basnet. “I hope students will be dressed up and have fun.” 

This event has happened for the last 12 years, and Basnet is excited for students to see what is different about it this year. 

“COVID made this event tough in the past, and there were not a lot of students. We really wanted to do our best with whatever we could at the time,” said Basnet. “This year, we’ve got eight different organizations helping out. It’s not just about the event, but about the collaborations.” 

Some international students, including Basnet, are far from their families and cannot visit them during this holiday. Some have never experienced Halloween. 

“Some International students do not have access to their family being around or are not able to visit them. So for them, we have planned and just as a school to introduce this thing to them,” said Basnet. “We are one of the multiculturally diverse universities in the U.S., so we are planning on doing this event to try and encourage people to come to this wonderful event.” 

This event is open to everyone in the Mankato community.

“It’s not only open to students this time; we are opening it to the public to get more people to come,” said Basnet. “We wanted to encourage people to come and be involved after the whole COVID pandemic.”

Students are encouraged to dress up in their costumes and to take a break from the school stresses that happen halfway through the semester. 

“I love that people enjoy this holiday and they don’t just dress up. People, you know, dress up and go out and scare people,” said Basnet. “It will also be a break from their midterms, solely because people really are going through a rough season with them.” 

This event is from 8-10 p.m. People can walk around the CSU second floor looking at all the spooky decorations. They will be in all the rooms on that floor, including the ballrooms and conference rooms.

Header Photo: The Centennial Student Union Haunted Takeover is back this year, taking place on the second floor. The skeleton hanging in the CSU advertising the event has died from excitement. (Lilly Anderson/The Reporter)

Write to Lauren Viska at lauren.viska@mnsu.edu