New OU students had to get outside their comfort zones Thursday evening.

Camp Crimson's Crimson Chaos event took place on the North Oval lawn outside Oklahoma Memorial Union. The event began at 7:00 p.m. as campers were finishing their barbecue dinners.

Camp Director Zac Stevens got campers on their feet and out of their comfort zones right away.

"Are you ready to get chaotic?" Stevens said.

Campers were asked to meet new people and introduce themselves using a variety of criteria. The criteria were as random as finding campers with the same number of siblings, the type of shoes worn or simply whomever was closest.

"Our goal was to have them build the students from small groups to large ones," Stevens said.

Stevens told the students that all activities were optional and students could sit out during any activity they found uncomfortable. Only a handful sat out during Crimson Chaos.

"We don't want to see anybody off to the side, but some people might need a break," Stevens said. "I was happy with the way they responded. It's also the first time for the counselors to cut loose."

Some students adjusted quickly to what they found to be uncomfortable. The first activity involved touching fingers in the style of "E.T." with the nearest person.

"The finger thing [was the most uncomfortable] just because it was first," said Tara Gann, an incoming freshman from Tulsa.

Students also played a group variation of rock-paper-scissors, where the three choices became a monkey, a lion or an alligator. The objective was also quite different. Each group's goal was to have every member pick the same animal without any talking.

"There is no strategy here," Stevens said.

The activities got more personal as students assembled themselves into circles based upon their month of birth. Students gave each other shoulder rubs, and then attempted to have every student in the circle sit in the lap of the person behind them simultaneously. The attempts were mostly successful.

Students also met new people by finding partners to lock arms and dance with their backs to each other.

The free-spirited attitude seemed to stay with the campers as they left the North Oval. Gann received a piggyback ride from Emmanuel Osadebey, an incoming freshmen from Grapevine, Texas.

"I just met this kid," Gann said.

Osadebey said he enjoyed Crimson Chaos despite his initial reservations.

"It was kind of weird," Osadebey said. "But I guess it's a good activity to get people to meet each other."
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