English class to host Zombie Scavenger Hunt

UTRGV students will get the chance to search for the “cure to the zombie apocalypse” Oct. 28 at the first Zombie Scavenger Hunt hosted by Lecturer III Marianita Escamilla’s English 1301 writing class.

The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. and is being sponsored by the Department of Writing and Language Studies and the Student Union.

The hunt begins at the Chapel lawn on the Edinburg campus and ends at a mystery location that participants will discover through the night. 

“The whole point is to find the cure for the zombie apocalypse,” Escamilla said. “And what’s going to happen is my students are going to be stationed at different areas on campus. … We’re doing a series of riddles and activities at each spot to have people progress to the next step.”

She said the maximum number of people per team is four, but students can participate alone as well.

The top three teams will receive medals, and the top two teams will receive UTRGV memorabilia as well.

“In previous years, the students would pay to just get the makeup done,” Escamilla said. “And they would go walk around randomly. This one has more of a purpose behind it. … And this one’s gonna be at night, so I think that’s gonna be kind of fun, too.”

Along with the scavenger hunt, a raffle will take place at the end of the event at 8 p.m. at the Chapel lawn.

Escamilla said they plan to raffle off an array of “gift cards from a local store” and a grand prize of a mini refrigerator donated by Writing and Language Studies.

For entry to the scavenger hunt, students must provide four non-perishable food items per person, and for an entry into the raffle, two additional non-perishable food items.

Escamilla said there is no limit for entries to the raffle.

“If somebody comes in here with, like, a truck full of food, they will get that many raffle tickets, even if we have to print them on our own here,” she said.

Raffle participants must be at the Chapel lawn at 8 p.m. to claim their possible prize. 

All food collected from the event will be donated to the UTRGV Student Food Pantry to be distributed to both campuses.

This year, the English 1301 students hope to beat last year’s record by collecting at least 1,000 pounds of food. However, Escamilla considers it a win, as long as people are hearing and learning about the food pantry.

“I always tell students, even if we only have 30 cans, that’s 30 more that they didn’t have before,” she said.

Escamilla said there is a list on the food pantry’s website of what is most needed at https://www.utrgv.edu/foodpantry/donate/index.htm.

Christina Vega, UTRGV’s food pantry coordinator, said she is  grateful for any possible donations from the Zombie Scavenger Hunt.

“It would be extremely helpful to get any kind of food that can be donated to us. Any help would be greatly appreciated,” Vega said.