Toting grinning plastic jack-o-lanterns, plastic bags and empty pillowcases, Disney princesses, Harry Potters and Buzz Lightyears will venture into the streets tonight in search of sugary treats. But some of these creatures are not so little anymore. Every Halloween, a number of Brown students gather their friends, throw together whatever is in their closets and join College Hill's smallest residents to trick-or-treat.
After a somewhat unsuccessful stint trick-or-treating near Wickenden Street her sophomore year, Marianna Neubauer '13 said she and her friends discovered that the neighborhoods north of campus are the best sources for candy.
Kate Alexander '12, one of Neubauer's trick-or-treating partners over the past two years, said age did not hinder the experience. "I don't remember anyone telling us we couldn't have candy because we were too old," she said.
But Frannie Brittingham '14 said a few people skeptically asked her what grade she was in after knocking on their doors. Fortunately, her honesty paid off. Several houses rewarded her with extra candy for telling the truth."People like to say you're too old to go trick-or-treating, and there's definitely a point where you think you're too cool. But you can never be too old for free candy," she said.
Ben Laur '14 is not your typical trick-or-treater — he said he does not really like candy and gave his collected treats away to friends last year. For Laur, the holiday is all about costumes and decorations. One year, he dressed as Darth Maul from Star Wars, complete with a hand-painted mask.
Though Brittingham said she is still unsure of her costume this year, she is planning to trick-or-treat again. As a volunteer with Project Goal, a non-profit that uses sports for social change, she tutors middle school students and plays soccer with them. Brittingham and other volunteers plan to take their students trick-or-treating tonight — "We're hoping to raise funds for the organization," she said.
Every year, Pascal Van Hentenryck, professor of computer science, organizes the entire schedule of CSCI 0310: "Introduction to Computer Systems" around his Halloween lecture. He dresses up for the class and throws out candy to his students.
"Coming from Europe, I discovered Halloween here in Rhode Island, " Van Hentenryck wrote in an email to The Herald. His favorite part of the holiday is children's reactions to candy, he wrote. "There are those who try to get as many candies as possible and run as fast as they can after that. And there are the shy ones who just take one. When you tell them to take another, you can see the joy in their eyes, and that is priceless."
Though he does not think college students are too old to trick-or-treat, Van Henteryck wrote, they need to be creative to avoid competing with the younger children.
Brown students are certainly up to the challenge. Neubauer said she dressed up as a bathroom one year during high school, complete with a toilet seat on her head and a shower curtain as a cape.
In addition to trolling for treats, Alexander has found another way to celebrate the holiday at Brown — for the past two years she has helped out at the annual Ladd Observatory Halloween party. The party is part of the Observatory's efforts to reach out to non-physics concentrators and the greater Providence community. They serve refreshments, turn the laboratory into a semi-haunted house and bring out the telescope so guests can check out constellations. "It was fun. I got to stand in a corner and jump out and scare people," she said.
But Alexander said she still misses a few things about celebrating the fall holiday at home, especially carving pumpkins and making pumpkin pie. "Homemade pumpkin pie just doesn't compare to the Ratty's," she said.
