Hofstra Versus Zombies: Spreading Infectious Fun in a Prestigious Campus

Members posing before entering into battle

Casey Reardon, awarded the
“Alex Demarest” Award in Spring 2014

On a campus so oriented toward helping you succeed academically, it’s nice to have a social club dedicated to providing fun events for students on campus. Welcome to Hofstra University versus Zombies, a club that is not only designed to bring the horde of undead to Hofstra’s doorstep, but is also an excellent opportunity for students of all majors to come together and have an amazing time during their college years. We are the Nerf and zombie experts here at Hofstra University and we provide lots of fun activities outside of class. One thing that really makes our club special is the game of Humans versus Zombies that we host every semester.  Humans versus Zombies (aka HvZ) is a five day game of survival tag that begins on Wednesday and continues until Sunday. There is no break, meaning that human players must watch their backs during both the day and night. A human is marked by a bandanna on their arm or leg while a zombie is identified with a bandanna on their head. During the first 48 hours of the game, an original zombie lurks around the Hofstra campus to “infect” (tag) other players in the game. During this time, human players are not allowed to defend themselves and the original zombie is unmarked within the crowd, meaning that players must find alternative routes to their classes and residence halls. Once the appropriate time has passed, the game enters a "free play" mode. players that were infected become a part of the undead horde while humans can now defend themselves with Nerf blasters and/or sock flails. Players then participate in five missions during free play. Those who are still human must fight off the zombie horde until the end while those who are infected join the horde and try to infect former friends. One of the greatest aspects of Hofstra versus Zombies is that players begin to work with each other to "survive" against the undead, making long lasting friendships as well as fun stories to share outside of class. This brings our club together and turns our meetings into community gatherings that become one of the highlights of club membership for many people. 
In addition to Hofstra versus Zombies, we also host social gatherings such as Thankskilling, HUvZ Night Out, Zombie Ball, and much more. We are the largest club on campus with 213 members and are always welcoming more every semester. Suggestions for new events and ways to improve are always welcome and we are willing to accommodate our members with any time restrictions they may have. Personally, I cannot stress enough the importance of the community we form here at Hofstra versus Zombies. If you don’t believe me, just watch what our members thought of our 2013-2014 academic year.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCWLexAl5gk 

Thank you!
-Sincerely, Sunny Kim '16, Vice President of HUvZ

Three students entering the fray