Costumes for the greater good
LU Batman and the ‘Campus Gandalf’ talk about why they don their costumes
ALTER EGO — Chris Massa (left) and Tobias Schwarz (right) dress up to make people smile.
Photo Credit : Jerod Wood & Michela diddle
By night, Tobias Schwarz is just a normal criminal justice student at Liberty University, but by day, he dons his alter ego: ‘Campus Gandalf.’
Schwarz is often seen wearing his Gandalf hat and occasionally carrying his staff.
He has been portraying the character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s series “The Lord of the Rings” for two years now.
“I first read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ about five years ago and I fell in love instantly,” Schwarz said.
“Tolkien kind of helped me through some rougher parts of my life.”
Schwarz decided to go and get the Gandalf hat and begin wearing it everywhere on campus whether going to class, the gym or the dining hall.
Gandalf is his favorite character of the series and helps remind
him of several things.
“Gandalf is the wisest of the angels on Middle Earth, and he is there to help guide the inhabitants and basically give them advice,” Schwarz said.
“I decided that I haven’t been living very wisely, and the hat is a reminder to live more wisely than I have in the past.”
Schwarz also wanted to wear the hat to brighten up the days of other students on campus who are familiar with the character.
Each week there are a couple people that will ask Schwarz about his hat while many others will smile or laugh when they see it.
Schwarz is glad to bring happiness to students through his portrayal and hopes this will become a tradition for Liberty’s campus.
“I’ll probably keep the hat as a remembrance of my college days, but I won’t really be Gandalf anymore after college,” Schwarz said.
“I’m hoping that next year I might find someone who is worthy to pass it on to so it will continue.”
Another character that can be seen at most football games is Batman, being portrayed by sophomore Chris Massa.
Massa, who introduces himself as Bruce, has always been a fan of the superhero and wanted to show his love to others.
“Ever since I can remember I’ve been obsessed with Batman,” Massa said.
“My senior year of high school I made a batsuit and I brought it to college to wear to the football games.”
Massa usually gets a lot of different reactions from students and kids who come to the games with their families.
“A lot of people will want to chest bump and say how cool it is, and some people want me to take a picture with their dogs,” Massa said.
“The kids’ reactions are the best, and they make it all worth it.”
In addition to the batsuit, Massa collects other Batman items such as shirts, jackets and even a phone case with the bat signal.
Massa estimates that he has enough Batman T-shirts to make it through an
entire month.
His love for the superhero comes from the fact that he can relate to him more easily than other superheroes.
“I think something about him just being a normal guy makes it really
appealing,” Massa said.
He has plans of continuing the tradition of dressing as Batman for future football games.
He likes to try to make his way into the ‘Jerry’s Jokers’ section at each game.
He enjoys portraying the superhero and making others smile.
“For me it all began as a way to have fun, and then other people starting joining in,” Massa said. “If I can just make someone’s day, it’s all worth it.”