The Quest for the Golden Gnome

Story and photos by Broadside Photography Editor Courtney Erland

If you saw about 60 students running around campus this past Saturday, don’t worry–they weren’t crazy. They were on The Quest. Starting in front of Fenwick Library, students gathered and broke into teams of four to go on the The Quest, a campus-wide scavenger hunt. There were a few rules such as: the groups must stick together and one may not sabotage other teams by hiding the clues. The prize for first place was a golden gnome and George Mason University sweatshirts from the bookstore.

Team Lock It Up was headed by team captain, Student Government Vice President, and Mason Ambassador Claire Forman. She was accompanied by three other Mason Ambassadors: Travis Johnson, Morgan Maravich, and Scott Rowe. Forman was picked for team captain, “because she’s awesome!” said Maravich.

All of the teams received their first clue in front of Fenwick. As soon the clues were opened, everyone took off running in the direction of the George Mason statue and the intense, Amazing Race–like event had begun. The race included figuring out the clues that were written in poetry. From there the teams had to figure out which part of campus the clue was referring to. Teams were also required to execute tasks at the clue site. There were eight stops along the scavenger hunt, including the Patriot Center, the Aquatic Center, Ike’s, and the Clock Tower to name a few. “Decoding the clues were hard,” said Forman.

Dennis Hicks, the director of Weekends at Mason brought in an outside company, Ravenchase, to put together the scavenger hunt because of their expertise and the company had more resources. Weekends at Mason this year will have more excitement, according to Hicks.

“My goal is to wow everyone on this campus and give them something they’ve never seen before,” said Hicks.

Overall, The Quest was a success. All the members of team Lock It Up said if prompted, they would participate in the event next year, which is the goal for Hicks.

“There’s a fine line between being a tradition and creating one. I want the students to be part of it,” said Hicks.

Weekends at Mason is pushing forward with their upcoming Welcome Week events and their plans to put together more on campus events on the weekends. They are planning trips to a Nationals game on September 1, the Kennedy Center September 4, and a bus tour of the monuments in Washington, D.C. September 6 in addition to revamping Live at Damon’s and putting together an environmentally friendly fashion show.

With all of the upcoming activities, it seems campus will be a buzz on Saturdays.