Across the nation, universities have begun looking over their shoulders in anticipation of the newly threatening cult that is the clowns. Clowns began lurking on campuses, simply instilling fear by the look of their masks and their mystical appearances. It wasn't until recently that the clowns have begun terrorizing students, as well as carrying weapons. On September 25, 2016, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed and killed by one of the assailants wearing a clown mask. The threat that was once simply a distanced masked-figure has now become a danger to young adults across the nation.

Just recently, a clown frenzy broke out at my university, causing a stir that resulted in the explosion of social media posts and like-minded warnings from peers to remind one another to be cautious and walk in groups. After dispensing with the supposedly false incident of having seen a clown, a man wearing one of the eery, trademark clown masks was allegedly arrested not 5 minutes off of our school premises. Although the supposed clown made no direct threats or attempts to harm anyone, students remain timid and afraid of what could come next, should the clowns return to campus in greater numbers and with harmful if not fatal weaponry.

Initially, I had scoffed at the idea of people running around in clown masks, simply disregarding them as pranksters wanting to instill fear in students for the sake of getting a sick, twisted laugh out of it. However, once violence was involved, my opinion changed. The movie, The Purge, bears a similarity to this real-life scenario that is anything but comforting. To not feel safe on one's school campus is frightening, as access to university grounds and buildings is not monitored enough to be rid of these threats with the simple presence of a school police force.

Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done regarding this uprising of the clown cult. The psychopathic humans of the world who feed on the misery of others are an anomaly to the sane-minded. The want to terrorize is not a human trait; it is inhuman. Clown-like. One can only hope that these terrors will come to an end in the near future and that no more people are hurt. For now, take precautions and report anything suspicious that you might see. Help keep our campuses safe.