S’mores, capture the flag and sleeping under the stars are all part of the plan for the Campus Campout happening this Friday night. this type of event is a first in Calvin history.

“This is a new idea we came up with,” said the associate dean of student development John Britton. “It came up in our survey data that this was something students wanted to do; it was on students’ bucket list.”

Britton added: “Every time you do a new event there’s always a risk. Like, ‘will people like this or not?’”

The campout has incited a bit of jealousy among the upperclassmen.

“They didn’t do this when I was on campus! I think this will be a good experience for the freshmen,” said fifth-year senior Audrey Hughey. “I tried it once and got kicked off, so I’m interested to see how this is going to play out.”

“I think it’s going to be a good opportunity to build community,” first-year student Breanna Smith said.

Like Smith, Britton hopes that the event will build community. He also wants it to be fun.

“Ultimately, there has to be a fun factor. Without fun, we’re not going to get students there,” he said. “The s’mores, capture the flag, the campout — there’s a playful nature that we hope will engage students’ creativity.”

The lineup for the event is as follows: from 8:30 to 10 p.m., there will be s’more roasting and hangout time. Students who want to participate can play a game of capture the flag across campus from 9 to 10 p.m.  Afterwards, there will be popcorn, beverages and a throwback movie that will be decided by popular vote.

 Multicolored posters with splatters of round stickers lined the Commons Annex hallway last week. Titles like Space Jam, The Goonies, Back to the Future and others were up for selection. Ultimately, students decided on Space Jam.

Students expecting to see tents popping up on Commons lawn may not find them. “We’re hoping to be tentless,” said Britton. “People will just crash anywhere they want.”

The weather seems to be cooperating with the event; a high of 80 degrees is expected.

“It does look like the weather’s going to be good, but this is Michigan, so you never know,” Britton said. “We do have a rain location but that’s not as fun.”

In case the weather does turn bad, the event will be moved to Saturday night.

“Our goal is to hit 500 students and I think this has the potential for doing better than that,” Britton said. “We’re excited to see what happens.”

Hughey said: “I just hope they remember to turn off the sprinklers.”