RHA events are worth attending for the experience
Students worked together to solve a murder mystery.
Normally, murder on a college campus isn’t anything to get excited about, but when it isn’t real you can rest easy. That is unless you want to solve the case. Then it’s time to put on your detective hat, look at the evidence and catch the culprit.
The Murder Mystery Dinners were put together by NDSU’s Residence Hall Association (RHA). This free event took place in the MLLC West classroom for any and all students to attend.
Meghan Detlaff, this year’s event coordinator, talked about why they chose a murder mystery event. “We wanted to do a bigger event to end the year that my event board and I could also participate in, since it would be our last event we put on together,” Detlaff said in regard to the idea of during a murder mystery.
Events are something Detlaff has shown a true passion for throughout the year, from this last one to other events like trivia night or glow in the dark dodgeball. One thing she said she wants the students to realize is that RHA puts on free events like this all year.
In this past year, Detlaff has encouraged all to “take advantage of these opportunities,” and even though next year there will be a new events coordinator, she still encourages everyone to keep an eye out for RHA’s posters.
There were two themed dinners for students to choose from. The first, “Murder of a Millionaire,” gave an opportunity to dress up fancily and live a life of luxury for two blissful hours catered by Noodles and Company. The second one, “Murder at Deadwood Saloon,” was decked out with décor of the Wild West and catered by Famous Dave’s for that extra cowboy feel.
Upon arrival, students got to chose from many marvelous characters, ranging from names like Harry High-Stakes to Minnie Money. These prepackaged characters and stories were ordered from nightofmystery.com, a website with plenty of mysterious packages to choose from.
Throughout the night, characters had instructions to follow and clues to gather from each other, though some came at a price because everyone started off with $500 “RHA Cash” to bribe and pay their way through each round.
The answers were in the clues. As players slowly gained information and played their part, if their detective skills were up to par, they could connect the dots and catch the killer, winning a certificate for their amazing sleuthing.
Along with guessing who did it, the night came with three possible prizes. One for Best Dressed, Best Performance and Most Money at the end. Those who came in character and stayed in character had the best odds for winning any of the three certificates.
It’s safe to say the event board killed the Murder Mystery Dinners, as everything from the characters to the storyline was captivating and enjoyable. After a long night of food, mystery and fun, the murder was solved, the case closed and NDSU safe once again from the imaginary murderers of the rich and Wild West.