For Cecil College’s 50th anniversary each department is hosting a month full of activities and events. April is the month of the English department’s takeover. A few of the events the English department has planned are: poetry chalking on the quad, a Hogwarts transformation in the Writing Center, a Shakespeare insult contest and a banned book exhibit in the library.

Holly Hudnall, coordinator of the Writing Center has been diligently working on creating Cecil’s own version of Hogwarts. She states that “when the English department chose the month of April as their celebration of Cecil’s 50th anniversary the Writing Center was figured into that. The English department has their various activities but here in the Writing Center we’re going to have the Harry Potter photo booth and are currently decorated like Hogwarts.”

She continues to explain the reason for the choice of Hogwarts, or more specifically, Harry Potter, and says, “We know that students enjoy Harry Potter and we instructors still really enjoy Harry Potter. There were so many different ways to incorporate themes from the series that I stuck with only the first book, the “Sorcerer’s Stone.” But we also did things like the house points and the photo booth that we thought students might be interested in.” The house points are jars for the four Hogwarts’ houses and students can drop a marble into their house jar.

Hudnall describes how she feels Harry Potter is still significant to college students in that it “was this generation’s push to get into reading. They may not have read another book, but they read Harry Potter. So for these students, when you (as an instructor) use allusions in class, Harry Potter is one you can pretty much universally draw on. Rowling drew a lot of people into reading in a generation that is overwhelmed with technology.”

She concluded by calling the Writing Center’s transformation a “labor of love” for her. The exhibit will be up all month. There will be a photo booth to take pictures in, including props like house robes and ties and wands. She urges students to come by and says “If you want to take selfies that’s great. We will also take pictures for you.” She laughs, “But I will warn you I’m not the best photographer. So if you snap selfies please tag us on Instagram. We want to see pictures. We want to see you guys have fun. It’s the end of the semester; you guys ought to have some fun.” The photo booth will be up as long as the exhibit.

However, the Writing Center is still a place of study. Hudnall points out, “If you have to work, you might as well work in a space that’s enjoyable. Be like Hermione: when in doubt, come to the library, or in this case, the Writing Center.” Lastly, she teased an upcoming prop for the transformation: The Mirror of Erised.

The Hogwarts transformation, however, isn’t the only event hosted by the English department. April is national poetry month and there will be chalk available all month for students to write their favorite poetry lines around campus. It does not have to be a poem studied in class, just anything poetry—classic or modern—students relate to and want to share with the rest of their students. Students can acquire chalk from any English department faculty member or in the Writing Center.

Cecil’s library has also put up as “Banned Books” exhibit. Books have been banned for reasons such as racism, inappropriate content, religious viewpoint, violence, and the like. The banned books display hides the title of each book and instead notes the reason for why the book was banned. Students can test their banned book knowledge and guess the titles.

On Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23rd, English Professors Kathy Weiss and Allison Symonds will be hosting an etymology lecture and Shakespeare insult contest. The etymology talk will discuss the many words and popular sayings that Shakespeare invented and the contest will award the student with the best three-word combination of Shakespearean insults.

So, even though T. S. Eliot said that “April is the cruelest month,” the English department’s takeover of the campus is sure to brighten our ever-lasting winter.