By Ava Dunwoody | Arts & Life Editor
Battle cries and flying snowballs hit Fountain Mall at 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening for a student-sanctioned snowball fight. After hearing about the gathering via social media, students flocked to the grass to participate and spectate.
Santa Barbara, Calif., junior Travis Pierce said his friend told him about the event and they decided to check it out together.
“Well, it seems some pent-up aggression is starting to show itself between the students here with the accumulation of the snow that I believe most of them have never actually seen before,” Pierce said. “They have lost themselves and have started to fight using the snow as weapons.”
Pierce threw a few snowballs himself, but he said he wasn’t sure where they landed, and it was all in the spirit of fun.
Fresco sophomore Joseph Crump said he heard about the event from the Instagram account @barstool_sicem, who he believes organized the event. He said he came to have fun, get out, stay off the roads and make the most of the snow.
“They’ve got a lot of students out here having a bunch of healthy fun,” Crump said. “You see a lot of masks. It seems to be a good time making the most out of a time off.”
Crump’s friend, Dallas junior Trenton Jardine, said the event started at 6 p.m. and students randomly picked a side of the grass that indicated their team. He said he wanted to come to see people get hit by snowballs and throw some too.
“I think there are rules that people just started following, like everyone gets their snowballs and they go back to their spot and stand there,” Jardine said. “Then people start running at each other throwing until they are out and then they go back and reset.”
Mission Viejo freshman Isabel McAteer and Overland Park freshman Ashlyn Acheson came to the snowball fight together after seeing their friends repost it on their Instagram stories that said, “Be there or be square.”
“It’s fun to be with college kids and have something fun to do while it’s snowing since it’s really rare to snow here,” Acheson said.
The two friends attempted to make snowballs, but they said the powder was too soft, so they just watched.
Pierce, who was able to participate in the snowball fight, said he felt like these snow days were taking the place of the days off students won’t be getting this semester because of the pandemic.
“Students got to get out, go have some relaxation, do some outdoor activities, take a break from studying and have a good time hanging out with each other and throwing snowballs.”
