Alice in Wonderland-themed murder mystery brings students together

Twenty-eight students gathered March 31 in the Center for Diversity & Community for dinner — with a twist.

Student Services hosted an Alice in Wonderland-themed murder mystery. Students were assigned roles of fantasy characters at random as they entered the room, and shortly into the evening, they were informed Alice had been murdered.

Before dinner, students began the evening by getting to know each other, taking pictures at a photo booth and playing games. The event concluded with a jury decision to decide who Alice’s murderer was.

Chrissy Summering, a graduate assistant at the CDC, was the designated host of the evening, leading the guests through the events of the night. Summering said she was picked to host because Student Services is familiar with her love of the stage.

“My favorite part is the people who are really into it, the people who come here and let things go and relax and just take on the character,” Summering said.

First-year Xavier Wright said he didn’t know what to expect but thought it would be fun.

“I thought it sounded like a fun idea, and my friends wanted to do it with me,” Wright said. “I have no idea what to expect. I kind of went into this blind.”

Devyn Sponder, a graduate assistant at Student Services, said she was happy with the turnout.

“It’s just something we brainstormed to try to get students involved on campus,” Sponder said. “In the fall, we have etiquette dinner, and that usually goes really well, so we decided to change something up and just do something different.”

Summering said she could foresee Student Services hosting a similar event in the future and welcomed students to offer suggestions.

“We like to test things and then find out if they work well, if the students are interested,” Summering said. “Obviously, we’ve had a full turnout, so yes, I definitely think this is something we would do again.”

Wright said he would consider doing a similar event in the future.

“I think that the people who are throwing it on are really cool already, so that already makes me want to do it again.”

Summering said she would urge students who are considering signing up for a future event to take the leap.

“If you don’t go and experience something, then you won’t even know if you liked it or not,” Summering said. “You have to just do it.”