Scavenger hunt draws on ‘Hunger Games’ sensation

SUBOG held a campus-wide Hunger Games themed scavenger hunt Thursday, where students searched for mockingjay symbols to win prizes.

“Between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., every hour, we released a hint or a clue on Twitter or Facebook which led to a location with a Hunger Games symbol,” said Sarah Lauretti, an eighth-semester allied health major and SUBOG’s social media and communications chair.

Once claimed, these Hunger Games mockingjay symbols could be redeemed for prizes. Lucky students who found the symbols around the campus were rewarded with gift cards to the UConn Co-op. The winners were also eligible to win the event’s grand prize, a Kindle Fire.

In the wake of the book franchises’ recent movie release, SUBOG decided that the Hunger Games would be an appropriate theme for the scavenger hunt.

“My committee actually loves the series, so they wanted to have a good time making up clues that related to the book,” Lauretti said. “It was more fun for us to set it up like that.”

“All the board members have been reading the books in the office,” said Nick Brigis, a second-semester business management major and a member of SUBOG. “We’ve been seeing people around campus reading it. It was a way to make the event more unique and attract more attention to it.”

Despite the scavenger hunt’s Hunger Games theme, SUBOG made sure to keep the event accessible to both fans and non-fans alike. “We structured the clues so that they incorporated the book,” Lauretti said. “But we set it up so that people who haven’t seen the book or the movie could still participate.”

The event was originally scheduled for Friday, but the date was changed due to the campus restrictions in place for Spring Weekend, Lauretti said.

“We figured it would be a good way to get everyone involved at the end of the semester,” Lauretti said.