Mobs in multicolored bandanas armed with NERF guns roamed campus last week playing Humans vs. Zombies.
Garrett Blackburn, junior in polymer and fiber engineering, brought HvZ to Auburn.
"I first heard of this game from a friend at Georgia Southern," Blackburn said. "It looked pretty fun, and I wondered why we didn't have it here, and I realized the only way that could happen would be if I started it myself."
Blackburn used information from hvzsource.com to determine the necessary steps to have play approved on campus.
"You've got to go to the Department of Public Safety and make sure it's passed by them, or else it'll be shut down day one," Blackburn said. "The Department of Student Affairs and stuff like that is important because if the administration isn't going along with it, they're just going to shut it down."
Blackburn started a Facebook group to see how many students would be interested in participating. After hundreds signed up, Blackburn began gathering liability waivers and compiling a list of rules and regulations to present to the Division of Student Affairs and the Department of Public Safety.
"They asked for a lot of notice," Blackburn said. "I chose this date back in November. They just wanted plenty of time to prepare."
Randal Cerovsky, associate director of the Department of Public Safety, spoke with Blackburn on multiple occasions to work out the game's details.
"We've never had anything of this magnitude of a game being played that lasted for a week," Cerovsky said. "My questions are: is it open to everybody? How many people do you think are going to be here? Have you had the event before? If so, what type of problems were there?"
Blackburn estimates around 500 people played, and hvzsource.com lists a total of 463, with 259 humans and 204 zombies.
Cerovsky said he made sure all precautions were taken before granting approval.
"It wasn't just something that was thrown together one day," he said. "This was something that was planned for at least six months. (Blackburn) would constantly email us updates and we would say, 'Change this or change that,' and he would send it back to us."
Cerovsky did not have an issue with the game, but felt the the original proposal's rules were too broad. Throughout fall semester the rules were adjusted to the Department of Public Safety's specifications.
"Because of the magnitude of this and with it being this long, there were a lot of parameters to set up," Cerovsky said. "Originally it said the game could be played anywhere on campus."
However, the administraion adjusted the game's boundaries.
"You're not allowed to play in any building. All play has to be outside," Cerovsky said. "Doesn't matter if it's a dorm, academic building or library--all of those places are off-limits.
"It was specifically said that they could not interrupt any academic function. If there is an outside academic event, that now becomes off-limits."
Brandon Frye, director of student conduct with the Division of Student Affairs, was also involved in the approval process.
"I did appreciate that the young man that coordinated the game did do his homework," Frye said. "He talked to administrators in advance, he expressed his perspective and hopefully he saw that the administration was willing to work with him."
The use of toy weapons was also discussed.
"What we allow here is more strict than other campuses," Cerovsky said. "With airsoft guns we said absolutely not. Any weapon that looks realistic is not allowed. (Blackburn) said he was wanting to use only the NERF guns, and we agreed to that."
Frye and student affairs were also on board with the use of NERF toys.
"When you're looking at a weapon on campus, you're looking at intent and imminent threat or threat of violence," Frye said. "Comparing an M16 assault rifle to a NERF blaster and giving the same sanction would be preposterous and would be a violation of that student's fundamental fairness."
Moderators were stationed across campus to ensure participants followed the rules.
"We have about 25 moderators; that translates to roughly one moderator for every 21 players," Blackburn said.
"All of our moderators have the campus police number so if anything escalates we can call them in. Moderators can't be everywhere at once--we do what we can--but ultimately it's up to the players."
Participants were also required to register online to play, where they received the official rules, the liability waiver and an identification number to track the number of humans and zombies.
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