The campus squirrels have new neighbors this week in Rudder Plaza.
Habitat for Humanity is hosting its annual Shack-A-Thon, in which organizations are invited to purchase a lot and have members construct and live in a shack in the Shack-A-Thon village for a week.
Morgan Grinstead, freshman psychology major, said the event is meant to foster a sense of community and raise awareness, as staying in the shacks is purposefully uncomfortable to imitate some of the issues related to poverty.
“We paid $800 for our lot and it raises awareness because we are out here and people are kind of like, ‘What are you doing in a shack?'” Grinstead said.
While some of the inhabitants of the shacks said staying in the shacks overnight was the most difficult part, Jake Schnows, sophomore mechanical engineering major, said building was the hardest part for his group, FLASH.
“[The only limitation for us was] just that we are not very good at building things,” Schnows said.
Themes among this year’s shacks include “Sharknado,” “Up,” and “Frozen.” Shack-A-Thon 2014 began Monday and will end Friday.