Southeastern hosts Safe Trick-or-Treat event for the community

By Dan Hoke

A little Raggedy Ann paid a visit to one of the many booths operated by student organizations.

Allison Murray, Contributor
October 29, 2021

Southeastern Oklahoma State University hosted their annual Safe Trick-or-Treat event Oct. 28 on campus to bring the community together for Halloween and allow children a place to trick-or-treat safely.

The Safe Trick-or-Treat event has been going on for roughly twenty years, according to Jamey Keffer, a residence hall director on campus. Southeastern hosts the event outside of Shearer Hall to bring children to the campus and allow them to participate in Halloween festivities safely every year.

Joe Exotic made an appearance at Safe Trick-or-Treat. (By Dan Hoke)

Mickayla Freeze, a resident assistant and junior at Southeastern, mentioned the importance of the event and why families attend. “It is good for them to feel like there is a safe place for their kids,” Freeze stated. Children from the community came to the event to dress up, meet college students and of course, get candy.

Families were also able to participate in the haunted house hosted by PLC in North Hall.

Students and faculty volunteered to help Housing and Residence Life host the event and ensure that it was safe.

Student organizations, such as the Honors Program, set up booths with free candy and games for kids to play. (By Dan Hoke)

Children and their families waited their turn in line to receive candy from Southeastern students. A fear parents may have this time of year is that the candy their children receive may be harmful. Parents feel safe knowing that the candy their children were receiving was from the university and safe to eat.

Keffer believes that Southeastern students are impacted by the event just as much as the families. “In many ways, helping students understand what volunteerism is is a huge function of the event,” Keffer stated.

Campus organizations such as PLC and the Savage Storm cheerleaders volunteered to hand out candy. Students were able to volunteer individually or with their organizations.

802 people attended trick-or-treating and 601 visited the haunted house. (By Dan Hoke)

Keffer has participated in the event for the eleven years that she has worked for Southeastern. Keffer has worked for other universities in the past, but finds Southeastern’s service to the community impactful. “I’ve never seen an event that so directly serves the community,” said Keffer.

The university had a large turnout for the event. 802 people showed up for trick-or-treating and 601 for the haunted graveyard.

Even Bolt dressed up for the event, candy bucket in tow. (By Office of Student Life)

Follow Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Facebook or @southeasternofficial on Instagram for more community events.