An Instagram account hopes to send Seton Hall Pirates on a treasure hunt for gold.
The account, @setonhallutreasures, is a part of the larger Campus Treasures Network LLC, a company “run by students, for the students,” according to its Instagram. The company was founded in 2019 at Temple University and aims to provide fun and stress relief to students across different universities through hosting treasure hunts for prizes.
Each campus has a secret team of ambassadors who design the hunts and clues around their campus, manage the social media accounts associated, advertise the hunts and film the treasure hunts, Cynthia Remington, Ambassador Team Leader for the company, said.
Not only are the team members at each campus kept a secret, but so is the company’s founder and CEO. He uses the pseudonym “Captain Tommy Treasures,” named after a captain of a fishing boat named the Jack Jr., who was a world traveler but died at the age of 34 when he and his crew were run over by a 726-foot oil tanker, Treasures said.
The company hopes to start activities at Seton Hall this spring semester once they find a qualified ambassador, Treasures said. “Campus Treasures has a goal of being represented at all schools nationwide,” he said.
Campus Treasures tried to expand to Seton Hall last spring, but “it didn’t work out.â€
Campus Treasures tried to expand to Seton Hall in the spring of 2019 but “it didn’t work out,” Treasures said.
He added, “We never stopped thinking about Seton Hall; we just got caught up doing other schools and we’re obviously very interested in filling the spot again so we can have treasure hunts there.”
Treasure hunts vary from campus to campus because each team designs them unique to the campus.
“They know their campus, and just through walking to class or to get a coffee or to the library, they have in the back of their mind that there’s a hunt coming up and they think ‘Oh okay cool there is a place I could use as a clue or a hiding place for my treasure,’” Treasures said.
He said as long as students follow the campus’s Instagram account, they know through updates when a hunt is taking place.
Tierra Boyd, a sophomore criminal justice major, said it is “super cool and interactive” and that “it gives you something to do when you’re bored or want to get more involved on campus.”
Treasures added that there are two ways to play Campus Treasures. One is the treasure hunts where students can win prizes like cash, autographed sports items, jewelry, video games, TV’s and more. The other is to collect Campus Treasures Cash (CTC), which is also hidden around the campus. If a student does not win the treasure hunt, they can find the CTC and redeem it on the company website for a prize.
Ambassadors are chosen based on a few criteria. “We want to make sure the student representing us is goal-oriented, has an outgoing personality and is studying marketing, business, media, film, journalism, writing and the like,” Treasures said. The company hopes to help students build their resumes and expose them to learn from a business “from the ground up.”
Treasures said he had the idea for the company after finding a $100 bill walking home from class at Temple University. “I was busy with school and sports, but it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to do it because I thought it would be really fun,” he said. ”I learned in class about marketing and business plans, so then like a year later I came up with the business plan.”
Isabelle Valdez, a sophomore graphic design major, said “the concept is super cool and brings out the little kid in you” but she is unsure if she will participate due to her schedule and lack of updates on the accounts Instagram account.
Dae Woong Yang, a freshman social and behavioral science major, said he thinks it is a “great idea for Seton Hall to have something like that. It’ll give people motivation.”
Yang also added that he would “100%” participate along with his friends and members of the Filipino League at Seton Hall.
Treasures said, “This is a company that tries to bring joy to every college campus we’re at and we hope to impact as many students as possible now and in the future.”
Bianca Stover can be reached at bianca.stover@student.shu.edu
