At the dawn of the spring semester, room registration has been a hot topic for many Lipscomb students thanks to a game called Lord of the Keys.
During the fall semester of 2016, Lipscomb began construction on a new residence hall on the north side of campus. It will have hotel-style rooms for both male and female juniors and seniors during the school year.
The Office of Student Life needed a way to get students excited about the new building. After some brainstorming, they came up with the idea for a scavenger hunt.
Five keys were hidden on campus at various locations. The first five eligible students to find them received priority room registration in the new dorm. Hidden locations included the fountain, on the cross next to the Bison and inside a flowerpot at the entrance to Fanning.
“We knew that if we could get our students involved in a hunt like this, then the event would be much more effective than simply hanging posters and sending emails,” Dean of Student Life Sam Smith said. “We’ve had students spending all of their free time looking for keys. Students were constantly stopping by my office begging me to provide them with a hint.”
Another person involved in the creation and promotion of Lord of the Keys was Student Activities Director Louis Nelms.
He said he was unsure how to generate interest in the new residence hall.
“How am I supposed to get people that excited about dorm registration” Nelms said. “I maybe had my doubts that people were going to get this excited. It honestly took off a lot better than I thought it was going to.”
Junior communications major Kasey Main took full advantage of this game, finding three of the keys himself.
Once he turned in the first key for his own room, he found another on the cross. After that, he got a little more attention with his special talent. One friend reached out to him for help.
“She specifically DM’ed me on Twitter, asking for help from whom she called the key whisperer,” Main said.
Now that all five keys have been found and with housing registration coming up next month, Lord of the Keys has managed to spark interest in students across campus.