Harrison House’s Great Pumpkin Sacrifice: What Happened to this Halloween Tradition?

On Halloween, 1973, three students stumbled to the top of Harrison House, and drunkenly tossed a pumpkin off of the roof. While these Harrison residents probably weren’t looking for anything more than some drunken fun, their tomfoolery inspired one of the longest-standing and unorthodox residence traditions at UNB. 

 

Over the next five decades, the tradition developed into an intricate, multi-layered process. Every Halloween, residents singing Gregorian chants and wearing ceremonial cloaks carried their sacrificial pumpkin to be blessed at Joy Kidd, before returning it to Harrison where it was set on fire and dropped from the roof. 

 

The Great Pumpkin Sacrifice shaped the identity of Harrison House. The event inspired a pumpkin mural on the main window and the house’s unofficial chant, “Id Ingens Iactum Rei,” which translates roughly from Latin as “that’s so huge, let’s throw it.” 

 

Open houses would center around preparation for the great sacrifice. Incoming students attended these open houses close to Halloween to get an inside view of Harrison residents carving pumpkins, decorating, and assembling costumes in preparation for the event. 

 

Despite the sacrifice being a major hit with the student body, attracting upwards of 600 people each year, Harrison House no longer performs the ritual. The last Great Pumpkin Sacrifice occurred in 2021. 

 

The Brunswickan reached out to a Residence staff member to explain why the tradition ended three years ago, but they said they could not discuss the matter.

 

Past residents and UNB alumni  often recall the event as a highlight of their university experience. In the 2011-2012 Harrison yearbook, residents Karissa Mcnabb and Kelsey Busson wrote: 

 

“Pushing a giant pumpkin off the roof will probably be one of the more unique experiences we’ll ever have.” 

 

Another UNB alum Kirk Simms reported: 

 

“The [Great Pumpkin Sacrifice] was the first real holiday we celebrated as a campus. It was the kick off to a fun night…rain or shine.” 

 

Most current UNB students have never experienced the tradition. Many current Harrison residents were intrigued or upset that the sacrifice has come to a halt in recent years. 

 

One Harrison resident, Liz Metselaar, exclaimed: 

 

“Why would anybody not want to throw a giant pumpkin off the roof?”

 

Another resident of Harrison, Maria Loseche asserted that: 

 

“Unproblematic traditions should not just be omitted from the university experience.”

 

Loseche elaborated on the role that traditions can have in unifying residents: 

 

“Obviously, there needs to be a balance between new and old residence activities…that said, residence traditions naturally engage a lot of people while some of the newer events can feel inorganic.”

 

Harrison House residents appear overwhelmingly receptive to the event, making it hard to understand why the tradition died off. 

 

According to a petition created by Harrison alum Patrick Richard, students and Residence life staff were already experiencing contention over whether the event should take place in 2022. Richard’s petition claimed that: 

 

“UNB Residence Life Coordinators [were] attempting to make drastic, abrupt, and significant changes to the Harrison House Great Pumpkin Sacrifice…to completely change the event not just for this year but for future years as well.”

 

Ultimately, the reason why Harrison House Great Pumpkin Sacrifice ended remains shrouded in mystery. Yet, pumpkin sacrifices have not entirely left the UNB campus, as the UNBSU hosted a Pumpkin Sacrifice as part of their Fall Fest on October 30th.