South Quad on CI’s campus
Photo by Kaylee Holsworth
By Dani Ramirez and Delana Ornelas
CI offers students an early Halloween treat with the Homecoming Outdoor Movie Night, where the Pixar throwback, “Monsters University” (MU) takes center stage. On Oct. 9, students can gather on the South Quad lawn to enjoy a break from classes for the night. In the spirit of the spooky season, we turn to monsters for an alternative version of college life in the kind of fantasy world that made Disney famous. Mike and Sulley, the beloved BFFs, return with the surprisingly relatable backstory of how they became friends in the first place. This piece takes a look at the heart of the movie and connects it to campus life at CI, noticing the similarities and appreciating the differences.
Mike and Sulley moving into their very small shared room in the Oozma Kappa fraternity house
(Pixar / Monsters University)
“Monsters University” is the prequel to the iconic “Monsters, Inc.,” giving fans a look at how the two went from rivals to roommates to lifelong friends. And for those who never got around to watching Monsters, Inc., fear not. Monsters University stands on its own just fine. The film dives into their early days, introducing Mike Wazowski as the relentless runt who refuses to give up on his dream of becoming a scarer, and later bringing in James P. Sullivan (Sulley), the nonchalant natural talent who thinks he can skate through college on the legacy of his last name. Both must navigate classes, campus life and the competitive world of scaring. The two main characters are like night and day, but the story of their friendship unfolds with the same humor and heart that made the original a classic. Students are invited to enjoy a night of nostalgic fun with a monster sized dose of school spirit.
During the film, Mike Wazowski and Sulley join Oozma Kappa, an unpopular yet compassionate fraternity, who work together to win the Scare Games: A campus competition among fraternities and sororities on the MU campus to see who can score the highest on scaring skills. The members of Oozma Kappa are very welcoming to the two new members and almost immediately make them feel at home. While each individual member of the fraternity comes from a different background and excels in different ways they manage to win by leveraging their strengths to win the Scare Games. Like Oozma Kaapa, the community at CI encompasses many students from different backgrounds pursuing different majors and goals. This week is meant to celebrate and include all students, to take part in different activities and events to make memories that can be made nowhere else but on campus.
Members of Oozma Kappa: Art, “Squishy,” Don, Terri and Terry, trying to recruit new members for their fraternity
(Pixar / Monsters University)
Although MU is set in an animated fantasyland with obvious differences from real college life, a few things ring true to our own campus at CI, and I’m not just talking about the Bell Tower. The bird’s eye view of MU at the beginning of the film bears a striking resemblance to CI’s Central Mall Fountain. The beauty of their campus? That we share. And while joining a fraternity or sorority at MU may still lean into the stereotypes, the friendships built within a chapter full of misfits feel very familiar. After all, real life is just a million little moments of trying to fit in.
Ours is a campus where students can find their own rhythm, their own people and their own version of involvement without feeling pressured to perform. You do not have to be the loudest, the most competitive and you certainly do not have to be the “scariest” to belong here. You can just be yourself. What we already have as a community here at CI, the monsters spend the movie figuring out with each other. And for that, we can consider ourselves lucky.
An aerial view of MU’s campus, calling to mind CI’s own Central Mall
(Pixar / Monsters University)
Our campus has a slower, steadier rhythm that allows you to breathe and let your fears fade. For a former psychiatric hospital, which some still believe may be haunted, the grounds have transformed into a place where students face their fears and walk through the halls day or night knowing they’re headed in the right direction. CI is filled with students who push through challenges, knowing they have a strong and supportive community behind them.
