For the fourth year, GrizzHunt focused on fun and engagement from Tuesday, Nov. 17 – Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Similar to the Scavenger Hunt, GrizzHunt is an online, week-long competition where students can earn points by finding items, puzzles and promotions from an online list. 

Students could participate by themselves or in teams. Throughout the week, the participants found items and performed tasks the prompts provided in order to earn points.

This year’s competition followed similar procedures as past years’ but included only a few challenges on campus, due to the pandemic, according to Megan Wayne, the special events director of the Student Program Board (SPB).

COVID-19 has increased depression, stress and anxiety among college students. Through GrizzHunt, students can take a break from school and improve their mental health. While the classes are all online and student activities are extremely limited, GrizzHunt created a safe and fun environment for the students to enjoy during the Thanksgiving week.

“It was really nice to get to do something with friends since everything is online now, and to have a break during the semester to do something fun,” Isabella Mahuad, one of the participants of GrizzHunt, said.

Planning the event was different from past years for the SPB. Wayne said the most important part of the planning process was coming up with safe and socially distant challenges. Another challenge included figuring out how to reward individuals in the safest way.

“It seems like students enjoy completing the challenges given to them,” Wayne said. “GrizzHunt is definitely a good way for people to take a break from the stress of their everyday life. It gives them a chance to do something fun while having some friendly competition with other teams.”

Despite a variety of challenges faced by both the members of the SPB and the participants due to COVID-19, OU’s traditional GrizzHunt marked another successful year.

Any questions about the prizes for GrizzHunt or additional information about other events hosted by the SPB can be answered by Owen Bennett, the president of the SPB. Students can also visit its official website or visit GrizzOrgs for its student organization network.

Through the pandemic, SPB continues to figure out a way to enhance student life by providing high quality and diverse programs, activities and events for the OU community during this pandemic.

“I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s submissions,” Wayne said. “It will be fun to see what everyone comes up with.”