Smashed pumpkins litter campus after successful Pump-tober-fest

by Liam Robinson
edited by Ryan McCombs

This weekend students celebrated Halloween in full force and the carnage of orange pumpkin guts littering the campus shows just that.

(Photo: Liam Robinson)

Cleanup is ongoing, as campus staff find new messes with each new day, pumpkins don’t last very long when carved up and they are starting to appear all over staircases and parking lots throughout the grounds. With so much preparation to be done for the winter season campus groundskeepers have no other choice than to get rid of t he seeds and gooey innards from the fall fruit.

With no protocol in place for, say, recycling the pumpkins so the school can replenish the batch for next years celebrations the seeds are left to rot and the pumpkins are then wasted.

“I’d rather see people cook pumpkin seeds and be making pie or something with these” said Junior Maria DePierro

The waste is not only harmful to the students image but it attracts pests from the surrounding woods to emerge and scavenge the campus before winter falls upon them. Sightings of a stray cat have made rounds as it has been seen eating from trash cans and a busted pumpkin, clearly enjoying the free food.

Transparency Statement:

I interviewed my friend Maria for the quote, she is all about reducing waste and actually likes pumpkin products. The image I used was of a pumpkin outside my tower, several other friends of mine have recently complained about smashed autumnal fruits around their living areas.