The beloved tune, “This is Halloween” blared over a speaker in Falcon Square as Cerritos students lined up in order to participate in the costume contest organized by ASCC.

The contest where participants donned their best costume and competed for a trophy took place on Monday, Oct. 31

The four available categories were: Judge’s Favorite, scariest costume, funniest costume and Franco’s Entourage

During the costume contest, 24 students participated some of the entries included Godzilla, Harley Quinn, Ash Catch’em, Baymax and Hiro (Big Hero 6).

Among these entries, however, there were a few costume choices that raised eyebrows.

Culinary Arts major Alexis Luna dressed as a Native American for her entry.

She said “I wanted to dress as a Native American.”

Luna, announced at the costume contest that she was dressed as Pocahontas with an impromptu rendition of “Colors of the Wind,” a song sung in the Disney film version.

Enrique Rueda, who is a veteran and is affiliated with the Veteran’s Center on campus, entered the contest dressed as a member of the extremist militant group, ISIS.

Rueda shouted “Allahu Akbar” and “As-Salaam-Alaikum” intermingled with haphazard syllables in an attempt to sound as actual phrases in Arabic.

Chief Justice Vanessa Vega, who also announced winners and introduced contestants stated, “He went to change immediately. It was a controversial choice, definitely not a wise or safe choice.”

Rueda was met with “boos” by the audience and was immediately disqualified from the contest.

Student Activities Coordinator Amna Jara said, “He was disqualified and I asked him to leave.”

The winners of the costume contest were:

• Gregory Woodard, took home the Judge’s Favorite trophy for his entry as a member of the hip-hop group, Run DMC
• Tiffany Avery “Funniest Costume” for her entry as Sister Mary Clarence from the movie Sister Act
• Priscilla “Scariest Costume” for her Dia de los Muertos inspired costume
• Javier Ortiz and Stephanie Garcia won “Franco’s Entourage” for their costumes as Bob and Linda from the animated comedy, ‘Bob’s Burgers’.

The audience had their preference, film major Jasmine Martinez stated “Pocahontas, Bob’s Burgers, and Sally were the ones that stood out for me.”

The Halloween Costume Contest wasn’t the only on-campus event. The Pumpkin Carving Contest was also held the same day at Falcon Square.

Trophies for this contest were awarded at 1 p.m. to the sole contest entry.

An Aluminum foil face, plastic to-go cup eyes, a twined mouth, LED lights and a bandage adorned the winning entry.

The Robotics Club took home all three trophies for their Terminator inspired pumpkin.

The trophies were listed under the following categories, “Judge’s Favorite”, “Scariest”, and “Funniest”.

English major Rafael Ivan and Electrical Engineering major Moses Won explained the theme for their winning submission.

Won stated, “So because this was an entry for the Robotics Club, we had everyone pitch in ideas.”

Ivan interjected,” We incorporated a Terminator theme to the pumpkin because [the movie] has a link to robotics.

The fact that the trophies were gained by default did not damper Won and Ivan’s excitement and proud disposition over their winning entry.