Pumpkin Ramble brings together first-years, upperclassmen, and even faculty in a playful, hands-on design challenge. “Freshman year was fun,” Olivia said. “You see older students do crazy things on a pumpkin and you’re like, ‘Oh no, we have to figure this out!’ But it’s definitely bonding.” 

Second-year student Virginia leaned fully into the carving process: “We’re in the de-gutting phase… harvesting seeds to bake them,” she said. Her team’s concept: “A giant mouth with two tiny eyes. A large mouth, a tongue, and two baby eyes.” Time estimate? “An hour. Okay — we’ll see,” she joked. 

Second-year Adna, carving with a skeleton-decorated hairstyle, connected the event back to design practice: “We’re doing a project with hands-on tools, so this helps. It’s not that different — other than the fact that it’s food.”

Professor Kevin Shankwiler shared the event’s evolution: “It started as a class project where students carved pumpkins in the style of famous designers. Today it involves the entire school, and students have less than two hours to turn raw pumpkins into something very desirable.” 

Judging mixes rigor with humor. “We judge based on design, creativity, and pure biased opinions of the judges,” he joked. “We do take bribes — just so you know.” 

And the Ramble keeps expanding. “Every year we’ve grown it a little,” he said. “Next year, we plan to take a major step and expand it across campus."