Ohio State students flocked to the Oval after hearing word of a snowball fight via social media platforms. Credit: Jessica Barboza | Lantern Reporter
Students got their first glimpse of a winter wonderland Sunday night, as almost two hundred people headed to The Oval for the first snowball fight of the season.
Social media platforms erupted with open invites to the event Saturday following reports of mild snowfall heading toward Columbus. The tradition of snowball fights, snowmen and sledding continued across campus until the event was broken up by the University Police Department by 8 p.m.
Most students at the event — including Vik Visurakapalli, a second-year in finance — said they saw the open invite on Snapchat, but others found it through Instagram, YikYak and by word of mouth.
“A bunch of people were talking about it and said it was going to be a good idea, so I came out,” Visurakapalli said. “I actually drove 25 minutes for this.”
This year’s event isn’t the only to draw the attention of police and security. In 2021, amid strict COVID-19 restrictions, students saw their night of snowballs and sledding with dumpsters, pizza boxes and move-in carts ended by university police — after some officers joined students in the fun earlier that night.
Visurakapalli said he could not make the event last year due to icy roads. He said people seemed to have fun in the chaos, while others took to constructing snowmen on the outskirts of The Oval instead.
The snowball fight began lightly around 6 p.m., with students aiming at those in close proximity to their group. It became larger and more intense as the night continued, as loud mobs launched snowballs in different directions.
“The crowd just deciding spontaneously to start running in one direction and scream is a little overwhelming,” Riley Johansen, a second-year in moving-image production, said. “But I’m here for it.”
After the fight, students moved to the South Oval to sled down the sidewalk between Orton Hall and the Faculty Club using move-in carts and dumpster bins.
Bailey Finley, a second-year in pharmaceutical sciences, and Layla Goebeler, a second-year in human development and family science, were some of the first to sled down the strip.
Goebeler said the pair got the cart from people who had already brought it out.
“I knew we were going to fall,” Findlay said. “A girl who had done it last year was like, ‘Yeah, you guys are going to fall out at the end,’ but it wasn’t too bad — it’s snow.”
Towards the end of the event, University Police shut the event down because the use of move-in carts to sled is prohibited, as they are university property.
Many students claimed to have fun amongst the chaos.
“It’s lively,” Visurakapalli said. “It feels good to be around a lot of people.”
