A horn sounded in the distance: the cue for a multitude of male Hillsdale College students to charge toward each other. Fake swords clashed, makeshift clubs smashed the ground, and boys wrestled amidst the chaos. When the battle ceased, the newly-laid grass in the Quad was torn, and many boys were beaten, bruised, or injured.
This was the battle on the Quad, and it should never happen ever again.
For some reason, the residents of Niedfeldt and Simpson dormitories thought it would be a good idea to use our newly-renovated Quad to battle the Galloway and Whitley dorms on the night of Halloween.
It started when Niedfeldt captured what Whitley calls their “sacred relic and patron saint” — a pillow with actor Nicolas Cage printed on it.
“Niedfeldt held Nicolas Cage captive and threatened to martyr him if we did not fight them,” freshman Hunter Law said.
In an attempt to regain the pillow, Whitley rumbled on the Quad with Galloway. Participants called it “The Holy Crusade of the Quad.”
Though I didn’t witness the battle, it was impossible to ignore the holes in the grass of the Quad and dining-room conversations about the battle the next day.
One student showed a video of boys swinging at each other, picking each other up, and throwing each other around. Weapons consisted of water balloons and foam-covered PVC pipes. Some students wore clown makeup in what seemed to be a battle tactic to inspire fear.
These boys seem to somehow have free time for a battle on the Quad. But the battle was unnecessary and absurd. It caused injuries and wrecked the grass on the Quad.
“We all ran to the Quad, which was basically a half-frozen puddle of muddy slush,” freshman David Diaz said. “The grass sod was coming apart.”
Dorms are for living and sleeping, not the forming of cults. It seems as if the residents of the dorms are convinced otherwise.
It reminds me of a fraternity. They wear matching shirts, compete in Homecoming, and apparently, fight in the Quad. Yet many resist Greek life.
Some obvious perks of turning your dorm into a fraternity-like environment include no extra dues and not having to wear letters.
The battle ended cordially, with both sides coming together high-fiving each other. But it still damaged the new Quad and risked injury.
Some may see fraternity life as rambunctious and encouraging harmful behavior, but clearly dorm life isn’t any better. If anything, its effects are more evident.
Reagan Gensiejewski is a sophomore studying rhetoric and public address.
