Haverford’s Nerd House and Bryn Mawr’s Doublestar have decided to disallow nerf guns from this year’s edition of Humans vs. Zombies, a nationwide live-action game, after a request from the Student Activities Office (SAO).
The request was made on behalf of the Deans in response to recent campus shootings occurring nationwide.
“Given the current social situation, [the Deans] fear that people would panic if, during night-time or other times of limited visibility, they mistook a nerf gun for a real gun,” said Chris Wong, a habitant of Nerd House.
Wong referenced the recent mass shootings on college campuses, such as Umpqua Community College and Northern Arizona University, in addition to the anonymous threat made against college campuses in the Philadelphia area earlier this month, which caused these institutions to increase security.
Assistant Dean of the College and Director of Student Activities and Leadership Michael Elias noted that if there are any off-campus reports of a suspected gunman to Safety and Security or local police, Haverford must enter a lock-down until the situation is investigated. This is exactly what happened at Hamilton College earlier this month.
In Humans vs. Zombies, there is initially one randomly selected “zombie” that tags the “humans,” turning them into zombies. If a zombie does not tag another human within 48 hours, he or she dies and is out of the game.
Nerd House respected the request from SAO and made proper adjustments. “In place of nerf guns, we’re allowing two-foot length PVC pipes as blowguns, from which you can fire foam darts to stun Zombies at mid to long range,” said Wong.
Students have also taken to throwing balled up socks, another method often implemented in the game, instead of shooting nerf guns. The SAO had not made any objections to this method at press time.
I worry about students running around with 2-foot-long PVC pipes in their mouths… If a student were to fall while running…