By Macy Santicola, Advertising Manager
On Saturday, Sept. 29, the College of Liberal Arts will host “Hogwarts on the Hilltop,” an event open to the public to celebrate the world of Harry Potter.
The college has put together presentations focusing on the world of Hogwarts which include the biology department’s “Care of Magical Creatures” where people can meet animals, “Marketing Muggles” which will discuss the Harry Potter franchise’s marketing success, and a presentation on banned books which falls on the last day of Banned Books Week.
The presentations will be held from 9 a.m. to noon in the library’s lower level. Along with the presentations, the library will feature a “Restricted Section” display based on the Hogwarts library, and Professor Brian Fencl’s mural class will be designing Harry Potter themed murals on the whiteboards.
In the past, the College of Liberal Arts has held an event where local high schools can come down to West Liberty and experience college classes in liberal arts, and this is first year they have included a theme to the event.
According to Professor Nicole Naegele of the English department, they have only had one high school participate in the event. “As soon as I sent information out about the Harry Potter theme we got more schools wanting to be involved,” Naegele said.
This year the College of Liberal Arts is hosting three high schools and roughly 98 people for their event which will be held on Friday, Sept. 28. The classes the students will attend on Friday will all have a focus on the world of Harry Potter, and some of those presentations will also be available on Saturday’s event which is open to the public.
“The presentations are a great way to see Harry Potter in a new way,” said Naegele. “We encourage students on campus to come on Saturday and have fun, attend the seminars, and enjoy the activities.”
Families are also encouraged to come to campus and join in the fun as a lot of the activities are kid-friendly.
There will be a photo booth featuring props and cutouts of characters from the Harry Potter franchise, a costume contest, and a “Bertie Bott’s” jelly bean dare featuring some of strange and gross flavors of the Hogwarts brand jelly beans. There will also be a coloring room for kids whose parents want to attend some of the presentations.
Student clubs and organizations are encouraged to participate by hosting Harry Potter themed activities or even bake sales on the Saturday of the event.
Students can contact the College of Liberal Arts or Professor Naegele if their group would like to take part in Hogwarts on the Hilltop.
Photo Credit: Macy Santicola
