The air is crisp and cool. The green leaves turn shades of orange, yellow, red, and brown as they wither and fall to the ground, providing an excellent source of crunching noises beneath yellow rain boots. That’s right. Fall is here, and by extension, that means the best holiday of the year is here: Halloween!! Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday – there’s just something about getting free candy and getting to dress up that really rocks my world. While I will be celebrating Halloween at home and away from Swat this year, I can’t help but miss Swat during this time of year! From the ML (Mary-Lyons dorm) Halloween party to carving pumpkins with friends, I miss the immaculate Halloween vibes of Swarthmore College. Thus, I wanted to add a little Swat spirit into some Halloween costumes for this year!
5. The Bell Tower
She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’s tall and loud. She is the Clothier Bell Tower. This thing of beauty has hosted many acapella groups’ performances and rings loud and proud every quarter-hour during the day. You can get creative with some cardboard and paints or just randomly ding throughout the day and people will get the gist.
4. Swarthmore Fire Moose (ie. horn)
I’ll be honest, I’m not even sure what this baby looks like, but I sure do know what it sounds like. The first time I heard the town fire horn go off, I thought I was having a stroke or I was on the verge of death. The Fire Moose is VERY loud and still very alarming even after you learn what it sounds like. Similar to the Bell Tower, it’s not so much about the look as it is about striking fear into students’ hearts with a loud honk.
3. Phineas the Phoenix
Simple, elegant, and stylish. Being Phineas for even just a day out of the entire year is an honor. You can go for face paint or commit to making an entire suit to honor his presence. Be sure to be both mysterious and comforting, otherworldly yet approachable, and enigmatic yet charismatic. This one is a big job to take on, but I think very worth it.
2. A Willets Hall Rat
I’ve never actually lived in Willets but I’ve been often enough to see my fair share of Willets rats and I saw a Boy Meets Tractor (our sketch comedy group) sketch about a Willets rat falling in love with a student only to have her reject them out of disgust, so I feel like I know what I’m talking about. A Willets Rat provides so many different costume ideas. You could go for a more simple approach with just a pair of ears, or you could use some face paint, or go for a head to toe route. As for activities, I suggest scuttling across the room at a rapid pace and also standing on your hind legs when threatened.
- Jim Bock ‘90
Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference. Jim Bock ‘90, our Dean of Admissions, is a very simple Halloween idea costume wise, but you have a lot of expectations to live up to. Along with a simple suit and tie and glasses, you have to be kind, approachable, warm-hearted, iconic, and in touch with the youth. There’s a lot riding on this, but if you can pull off being THE Jim Bock ‘90, I salute you.
I hope you enjoyed this list and if you have any other Swat-related Halloween costumes please let me know as I had way too much fun making this list.
