Written by Shannon Keyser
Beneath the Pryor-England Science Building lies a network of tunnels, ordinarily inaccessible to students. Though this may sound like a rumor or superstition, students had the opportunity to see the tunnels themselves thanks to the Harding University chapter of the American Chemical Society (HUACS), which offered tours Oct. 21, 22 and 23. The club also took advantage of the tunnels’ natural eeriness by giving the Oct. 22 and 23 tours a haunted theme.
The tours were extremely successful, attracting almost 300 visitors on Saturday night and over 600 visitors across all three nights.
“The breakout statement of this entire thing is that we only advertised one day,” HUACS president senior Darby Mohon said. “The fact that we had that big of a turnout with just word-of-mouth, especially on Saturday night, was crazy impressive.”
In the tunnels, tour guides escorted small groups of about four or five people along a set route. On Thursday, the non-haunted night, guides provided facts and theories about the tunnels along the way.
“Thursday night, lights were on, and it was the tour guides giving a history of the tunnels,” HUACS public relations officer freshman Ella Smith said. “We don’t exactly know for sure what [the tunnels] are, we just know that they were built in the 1960s. There’s a running theory that they were made to be a bomb shelter … but currently, the tunnels are just used for maintenance.
During the haunted tours Friday and Saturday, costumed students were stationed throughout the tunnels, set to scare groups as they passed by.
“It was a good time, especially as a tour guide, as you got to watch people go through as they were being scared or jumped at,” Smith said. “Some people did scream, other people laughed, it was an interesting experience.”
The tours also helped form connections between the HUACS members.
“I think the highlight of the entire experience for me was getting to participate in this activity … and getting to know the people who are also helping with the event,” club member sophomore Martina Gooden said. “It was nice to get to collaborate with some of the upperclassmen and some of the people in my year that I don’t necessarily know super well … people that I wouldn’t normally be around because we’re all in different classes.”
The proceeds from the event will help pay for HUACS’s primary activity: performing science demonstrations at schools and sparking interest in students.
“We try to bring science to the community,” Mohon said. “I think a lot of people have a misconception that [chemistry] is very inaccessible to them at most ages and that you really can’t ‘touch’ chemistry until you reach high school … but it’s so accessible at any age. That’s our whole point: to make science feel cool.”
Students interested in HUACS can join its Facebook page at “HUACS Student Chapter” or can attend its next meeting Nov. 11 in room 123 in the Pryor-England Science Building.
