Looks like Humans vs. Zombies is coming back from the dead. And frankly, I couldn’t be happier. Something that I have complained about before is, ironically, people at USI (and in general) are constantly complain. People are forever going on about how there is nothing on campus, the rules are stupid and it’s boring.

And yet when you ask many of these people what they would like done to make their campus experience better, you just get a blank expression and some awkward muttering. But one group of students decided to get proactive. First they bring the Humans vs. Zombies game to campus, got organized and caught administation’s attention.


Basically, the game arms students with toy nerf guns, and has one student be a “zombie.” They then try to turn as many students into zombies as they can, while the “living” students fend them off with their nerf guns. It’s a huge, campus-sprawling game that has had success on campuses around the country. However, a few days into the game here, the administration put a stop to the fun, banning the nerf guns from campus, saying that they were a “weapon.”

Now, I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert on campus policy, and from what I hear, they had their reasons, but as soon as I heard it was banned, I was disappointed. While I was not participating, I appreciated that students were actually trying to make our campus a more fun, exciting place to be. I thought that was the end.

However, soon I heard about the protest going on in the Quad, trying to get the administrations attention and allow students to continue their game.

Of people I talked to, some thought the whole thing was “silly” and “ignored real campus issues.” Well, this is a real campus issue. Students are finally losing their tiresome apathy. Yes, on paper the whole thing seemed a bit ridiculous. But this is exactly what I have wanted students to do for ages.

They didn’t just whine and complain and make snarky Facebook statuses, they went out there and did something. They disagreed with campus policy and ran a peaceful protest outlining their goals in a respectful (but quirky) way.

As funny as the sight of a bunch of kids dancing around the Quad with toy guns and drum beats was, I had to admire their commitment. That’s when, to my surprise, members of the USI administration, including Student Government Association President Jordan Whitledge, came out to talk to the students.

After much discussion and head nodding from both protesters and administration the students fired their (unloaded) guns into the air, and everyone began to cheer. With just a little diplomacy Humans vs. Zombies was back on. Seeing this success may motivate students to get more involved in other, non zombie related aspects of campus life.

Proving that while all mindless complaining does is cause headaches actually taking action to make this campus a better place ends up with a happy ending for everyone.

Except possibly the zombies.