Bethany Hillier would have been devastated if she would have been turned away from her favorite U activity, the Black Pumpkin Affair, after spending four months planning her Halloween costume.
Hillier, a freshman in elementary education at Weber State, special-ordered her genuine 1920s dress just for Friday’s bash-despite the fact that she doesn’t attend the U.
“This is my third year coming to the BPA,” Hillier said, “and I keep coming back because it’s a fun way to get involved with people at the U even though I go to Weber State. The U is one of the last schools to keep its doors open to all students, regardless of where they go to school.”
The BPA has been open to the general community for a small $2 fee or two cans of food since it first started in 2000. All the proceeds from the Halloween event are donated to the Utah Food Bank.
The U has kept an open policy while other schools have begun to regulate the attendees of their Halloween bashes, as Utah State has with its event, The Howl.
After keeping an open policy for 25 years, the Associated Students of Utah State tightened ticket sales because complaints about “non-students showing up and causing problems.”
Tickets for The Howl are no longer available at the door, and only Utah State students are able to purchase the $10 tickets in advance. For a student to bring a non-student guest, the ticket price is increased to $20 each, with a maximum of three guests per Utah State student.
“I can see both sides of why (Utah State) is turning people away from its activities,” Kacee Kniazeva, director of community service for the Union Programming Council said. “On one hand, all the fees students pay should go back to the students. But on the other hand, there are people who cannot afford to go to a university and still want to be involved in their activities.”
Shadie Ghaibi, Crimson Nights director, said that most of the U’s events target the campus community but are also open to the general public.
“We don’t want to cut off students’ guests or raise ticket prices for their guests, because those individuals could be their spouses, friends or even relatives,” Ghaibi said.
Another reason to allow members of the community was to increase the funds raised for a good cause.
“(The Utah Food Bank is) running very low on supplies since all the money has gone to victims of Hurricane Katrina, and very little was left for charities in the local area,” Kniazeva said.