Pandemics have been on everyone’s mind the last two months of this semester, so it’s not surprising Rani Weirich, customer service manager for Parking and Transportation Services, knew that in 1918 the CSU campus closed, in response to the global outbreak of what was called the Spanish flu. That pandemic hit Fort Collins in the fall, rather than the spring, and ill students were cared for in makeshift hospitals in the military science barracks and on the top floor of what is now the Statistics building. Armed guards prevented anyone entering the Oval, and all told, 16 people died on campus.
Weirich, who has been with CSU for 15 years, said she had just read about the 1918 pandemic on SOURCE, which is how she knew the answer. Even though she always reads Campus Trivia in CSU Life, this is the first time she’s entered the contest.
“I enjoy planning trivia when I hang out with friends and at restaurants/bars that offer trivia games,” she said from home, where she has been working since the University went to remote operations in March. And we all look forward to being able to do that again.
For having her answer selected from all the correct ones submitted, Weirich will receive a special 150th anniversary swag bag, including a limited-edition bandana autographed by State Climatologist Russ Schumacher, the winningest Ram to ever appear on Jeopardy!, and a $25 gift certificate to the CSU Bookstore. We’ll deliver the goods as soon as we all return to campus.
And that’s a wrap for CSU Life for this most unusual year. We hope to be back with more Campus Trivia in the fall – watch this space for updates.
Thanks to everyone for playing and reading. Stay well, Rams.
