Tuesday’s snowstorm may have shut down the campus, but it did not shut down the fun.

Stephanie Bourgeois, senior environmental studies major; Isabelle Bourgeois, senior community leadership and civic engagement major; and Rebecca Mensing, senior interactive marketing major; combined forces with the staff at University Plaza (UP) to coordinate a massive snowball fight in the east field of the UP on Tuesday. The snowball fight started with a Facebook post; nearly 200 NIU students were in attendance.

At 5 p.m., the battle was on. Students who grew weary of being pelted in the face by snowballs took breaks and warmed their hands near a fire provided by the UP staff. Free food was also provided.

“We supplied all the hot dogs, all the food, and built up the snowbank in back,” said Pete Flaherty, UP director of operations. “We kind of just piggybacked off of it [Facebook event].”

The students who showed up were divided into teams of red and black depending on their surnames. People began arriving in small numbers at first, but the crowd attendance increased significantly within the first half hour.

Early into the match, throwing snowballs was no longer enough to win because teams began full-on assaults. Both sides crossed the middle of the field to lob giant snowballs over the walls of snowbanks. Shovels were used as weapons of snow destruction for the opposing team’s snowbank.

Students were encouraged to join the event and bring their friends. Ed Domich, the director of marketing of UP, got wind of the idea and helped provide a location for the students to have their battle.

“We got this whole big lot back here where we can build mounds and stuff with our trucks,” Domich said. “We brought our plow trucks out there. That’s how we built those mounds.”

The snowbanks created were used as snow forts. UP mascot Tobasco Banannas made an appearance at the event and assisted in the snow brawl.

“It was a snow day,” Bourgeois said. “We can have a lot of fun…and bring everyone together.”

A person on the east UP roof playfully attacked people with snowballs. Senior geology major Victor Fiszer said if the event had a first-place trophy, it should go to the man on the roof.

Junior communications major Lauren Iverson was one of many students in attendance who had a canceled test on Tuesday.

“It was a good excuse to not study for a midterm.” Iverson said.