Hillsdale College’s homecoming centennial saw Simpson Residence bring home the trophy for the sixth year in a row. Winning several competitions throughout the week as well as homecoming overall, Simpson finished with 550 points.
“The guys were super excited, especially the freshmen,” said senior Hank Prim, Simpson head resident assistant. “We like to show our guys that Simpson is more than just a place where you live; it’s more than just a place where you come back and sleep. We want to make it a community.”
On the 100th anniversary of homecoming, generations of Hillsdale students gathered together, including the DeLapp family, whose ancestor, 1914 alumnus Albert DeLapp, started the tradition. Current students mixed and mingled with alumni. Students in and across residence halls and Greek houses worked together throughout the week of competition, fostering friendships and Charger spirit.
The week kicked off with a banner contest, won by Gallo-Zing, an alliance between Galloway and Benzing residences. Designed by both dorms and executed by Galloway, the banner depicted President Larry Arnn bursting from a birthday cake.
“It was really exciting to see Gallo-Zing at the top of that leaderboard for that first day or two,” Galloway Head RA senior Christopher Pudenz said. “The guys were really excited, and the ladies over at Benzing were really excited, too. That banner is going to be treasured.”
Kappa Chi Phi, a team formed from the three sororities, followed up by winning the photo contest with a conglomeration of sorority photos from the last 100 years, compiled and edited by Chi Omega senior Rachael Reynolds, Pi Beta Phi junior Lydia Seipel, and senior Lauren Melcher, Kappa Kappa Gamma vice president of organization.
“I think that was a great representation of teamwork both physically in the form of a photo and in the fact that we worked together all day long,” Melcher said. “It’s nice that we won first because it shows together we are stronger.”
The team from Sigma Chi devoured its way to first place on Wing Wednesday, pairing senior Brent Cartwright with Kappa Kappa Gamma junior Cecilia Bellet.
“I think it’s cool, when one of the fraternities wins something,” Cartwright said. “We have better relations from competing with Kappa, getting a bigger presence from it.”
Simpson won the Instagram video competition with a fast-paced video depicting them breaking into Central Hall to steal the homecoming trophy. Junior Chandler Ryd, a former Simpsonite, spearheaded the project.
“Hank and the RAs came up with the original idea, but I kind of fleshed out the details,” Ryd said. “I know that the guys were really happy to have won that because everyone is targeting Simpson, trying to win. I’m happy I could help them out.”
The Delta Tau Delta “Deltsby” team won the volunteer GOAL competition. Between Sept. 16 and Sept. 22, the Delts served a total of 31.3 hours.
“We typically volunteer as a group,” said junior Zane Miller, public relations chairman for Delta Tau Delta. “We definitely volunteered more for the contest. We all knew it was something we could really step up in. Whereas everything else is very subjective, this is a very objective competition. We saw that at the beginning and were like, ‘This is somewhere we can really shine’ because we are a heavily volunteer-based organization.”
Friday brought this year’s wild-card competition. Teams had two hours to make their best “tacky trophy,” which the Alumni Executive Board judged. Olds Residence won.
“Our trophy was a mix of fun Olds’ flair, class, and Charger pride,” Olds Head RA junior Emily Barnum said in an email. “It was also a great time to feel the friendly competition from Simpson stationed right next to us during the event. The good-natured rivalry definitely helped spur us ahead to victory.”
Charger football closed the week with a 51-24 win against Michigan Technological University. During the game, seniors Elise Clines of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pudenz, an independent, were crowned homecoming queen and king.
“The people here at Hillsdale have really shaped me and helped me grow to the person I am today and to think that maybe I impacted others’ lives is an incredible thought,” Clines said.
Pudenz said he felt honored by the kind of people he was with on homecoming court.
“I got to be on court with a lot of people from many different areas of campus, and I think those people on that court in a lot of ways represent some of the best parts of Hillsdale College,” he said.
To conclude the festivities, teams competed in the Mock Rock dance off. Simpson ranked first place, Niedfelt Residence second, and Kappa Chi Phi third.
“One of the biggest things we were trying to go for was just to have fun, and I think we definitely achieved that goal,” Simpson Head RA senior Alex Reuss said, adding that students had practiced two hours every day for three weeks.
Overall, Simpson took home the first place trophy. Kappa Chi Phi took second, and Niedfelt placed third, with 450 and 400 points respectively.
“There’s a palpable sense of school spirit and camaraderie,” Prim said. “We have our rivalries between dorms and between different groups on campus, but at the end, there’s this sense of Hillsdale pride.”