The annual Easter Egg Hunt hosted by Sojourn Collegiate at the University of Rhode Island brought students together for a night of fun, excitement and community bonding on April 16 and gave students a chance to unwind and have a good time with friends before the start of finals week.
Prior to the event, club members hid over 600 eggs in surrounding areas near the library for participants to find. Tyler Novis, chaplain of Sojourn, hid 10 black eggs in much harder-to-find spots including inside bushes, pipes and lamp posts. Students who found a black egg got one of the bigger prizes, which ranged from a hammock to a game and a container of M&M’s.
Participants came together to find the coveted black eggs and found them within 75 minutes.
“We do this event because of the community; Easter is a big deal and we want to celebrate that,” Nobis said. “I think having fun on Easter is great, but really it’s to build community. I think students are stressed out with finals coming up, and this is a great time for students to run around. I just love all the students walking around. It’s very community-based, and I love that.”
Many students attended the event in large groups in hopes of finding more eggs with a bigger group.
Students heard about this event from numerous sources, according to the Sojourn Instagram. Others learned of the event through their teaching assistants, upperclassmen and friends who had participated in this event in years past. Some also said that they saw the Easter Bunny walking around campus to find out about the event.
“I found my black egg near Davis Hall in a pipe, and I was super excited when I found it because I wanted one of the bigger prizes,” third-year student Scott Cooper, who won the voting game, said. “I attend the Sojourn Collegiate in Newport and one of my friends said to come, so I came.”
This event is always the most fun for Sojourn to put on because of the large turnout every year, according to first-year Andrew Prey. It allows them to meet new people and also put on an event in which a lot of participants come to have a good time with their friends.
The event was a great way to hang out with friends and get students out of their comfort zones, according to first-year students Neylanie Villafane and Jacqueline Arevalo.
To stay updated with URI’s Sojourn Collegiate, visit @soujourn_uri on Instagram.
