“Labyrinth of creativity.” Founders President Jon Schimpf ’23 wanted these three words to set the tone for Around Founders, which took place on Feb. 12. For the first time in two years, Founders Hall opened its doors for students to walk through its various halls in an immersive story-book experience.
photo by Hannah Rodehaver
Around Founders is a Founders Hall tradition but has been on hiatus due to COVID-19. The last Around Founders happened in Fall 2019, so reinstating this event was a big deal for Founders residents. It was an opportunity for them to show off their building pride to the rest of campus, while also collaborating on a project that brought their halls closer together.
However, it also came with some challenges. “I felt the pressure of reintroducing the event to two whole classes of students (freshmen and sophomores) who hadn’t experienced the event before. I really wanted it to be as traditional as it could be — still keeping a lot of the same aspects of the original events but also rebranding it,” Schimpf said.
Schmipf and the Founders Cabinet settled on the theme of Founders Fiction. Each of the six halls chose a book or series of their choice, decorating their halls and acting out some of the characters and scenes. Before the doors even opened, students lined up outside in blustery weather to walk through this maze of halls and stories, and the flow of visitors was steady through the night.
Visitors entered the main lobby of Founders where they were greeted by hanging books and glow sticks. They began their journey in Jungle, which put on “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.” The Pevensie children, the White Witch, Father Christmas, and Aslan all made appearances, and the hall was decorated with DIY crafts, paintings, and a line of stuffed animals to represent Narnian creatures.
Visitors continued to Balcony, which presented “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Various iconic characters from the story appeared along the hall and in the individual rooms, and students were transported by the Wonkavator into the Balcony commons, which was colorfully decorated as the candy room.
Mantown was next with a story from the “Star Trek” series. Visitors walked through a makeshift control room decorated with keyboards and computer monitors and entered a hall turned into a spaceship whale. The hall was intentionally claustrophobic - dark, dank, and lined with red - with each room representing a different anatomical part of the whale.
Brethren and First Belz both chose childhood favorites, with Brethren creating the world of Dr. Seuss and First Belz reenacting “The Magic School Bus” series. Brethren used green tissue paper, murals, and elements of surprise to capture the eccentric nature of Dr. Seuss’ books. And First Belz created a school bus environment with chairs, funny characters, and each room acting out a different adventure.
photo by Hannah Rodehaver
The last hall was Jubilee, which presented “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Jubilee captured the dark, winding nature of the rabbit hole with the shape and color of their walls. Characters from the book walked through the hall, and a lot of effort was put into costumes, scene reenactment, and spoken lines.
At the end of the tour, visiting students were given hot chocolate and the chance to vote for their favorite hall. Balcony’s “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” one first-place. Lucy Sicks ’24 described some of the process that led up to her hall’s first-place award.
“We were collecting cardboard for weeks…and then we did a lot of prep the week before, like making small things like lollipops, little candies, and small details we knew would make a difference in the end,” she said.
Balcony then spent the two days before the event transforming their hall into the world of “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” And on the day of Around Founders, Sicks worked thirteen hours straight.
However, the long hours of preparation were worth the result. “I loved when it was just all coming together and seeing the different members of our hall pitching in and helping to create this one vision,” Sicks said. She spoke about how she loved seeing Balcony come together, and enjoyed how the event gave them an outlet for creativity.
Founders residents united as a community to show off their creativity, but the event was not just for Founders. It was meant to be a blessing for all of campus as well. And while the event was full of chaos, creativity, and character, Schimpf mainly wanted to emphasize the gift of rest amid a hectic semester.
“It really was a time of rest and having fun…a time to let people who are ordinarily stressed to be encouraged to find rest and share their own creativity with others,” he said. “I wanted it to look like Founders opening its arms…Rest is a gift we’re given by God and so it’s our job to steward that well.”