The Residence Hall Association and National Residence Hall Honorary at Mississippi State University presented Haunted Horse Park in Starkville last Wednesday and Thursday.
Dante Hill, associate director for Residence Life on campus, said the haunted events started in 2008 with Suttle Hall, before the building was demolished.
“Each year, we have added new activities and increased the number of volunteers that have helped out with being scarers,” Hill said. “We have done the program each year since then to raise money for local charities. All of the proceeds from the haunted events go to support charities that the Residence Hall Association decides to sponsor.”
Hill said although they have not yet decided who will receive proceeds this year, they have donated to places like the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity and Pine Lake Church, and also sponsored many children from the local community each year for holiday gifts and clothing for needy families.
Talla Cisse, Residence Hall Association Programming and activities director, said they raised a total of $5,741 from this year’s Haunted Horse Park event.
“This year we had around 1,610 people to come out and support,” Cisse said. “We are really proud of the volunteers that participated as scarers in the event last week. They did a really good job and really made the haunted horse park what it was.”
Cisse said the haunted event is the biggest event each year, but Residence Life also hosts other events such as Dawg Daze, RHA Week and Cake Day.
“The purpose of RHA and these events, as far as students go, is to make living on campus a better experience for students,” he said. “It really makes a difference to connect with students through programs.”
Kyle Mitchell, residence director of Rice Hall, said the haunted events are for the community, not only college students.
“I’m very proud of RHA because they put in a lot of time and hours of dedication to service MSU and Starkville,” Mitchell said. “From my experience, each year gets bigger and better.”