Alpha RLC celebrates ancient Roman tradition
By James Hill III
In Ancient Rome, a festival was held in late December honoring Saturn, the Roman god of dance, fertility and agriculture. Called Saturnalia, this week-long festival involved revelry, gift-giving, games, celebration and most of all, mischief. A main point of the festival was the temporary reversal of the social order as masters served their slaves dinner. Additionally, a master of ceremonies named the Lord of Misrule was appointed to oversee the proceedings and ensure everyone was acting in the appropriate manner: badly.
In the 21st Century, the Alpha RLC at Santa Clara has decided to celebrate Saturnalia in their own way. Each year during the first week of winter quarter, a special version of Saturnalia is held, centering upon two competitions: the battle to win the title of Lord or Lady of Misrule and a competition between the four Graham buildings for a trophy. The event culminates in a Mediterranean feast, with all comers encouraged to dress in togas. The Lord or Lady of Misrule then controls the games of the night and generally encourages mayhem.
At the Saturnalia opening, a list of increasingly zany tasks is distributed to any brave soul considering a run for Lord or Lady of Misrule. Each task is assigned a certain amount of points and, over the course of the week, whoever can earn the most points earns the title.
This year, the whopping 85 tasks were divided into three point levels. Tasks worth 250 points included holding a dance party in a public place, crawling to class, and re-enacting the intro to the 90's TV sitcom "Friends" in a fountain.
Tasks worth 500 points took a little more effort: walk backwards all day, check out 50 books in the library and build a fort with them, or explain how babies are made in a class.
And for 700 points, a contestant could ask to leave class because of explosive diarrhea, start a flash mob set to "Thriller" in Benson or enter Professor Stephen Carroll, Alpha Faculty Director, in, among other things, an official wrestling competition.
Junior Mike Haney, who was Lord of Misrule his freshman year, fondly remembered starting a fake sword fight in Professor Scott LeBarge's class with cardboard swords. For the feast, he was carried into the California Mission Room on a couch while eating grapes. Alas, his planned game of pudding wrestling was vetoed.
By the end of the heated week of competition, freshman Victoria "Tori" Troche had accrued over 24,000 points to become the Lady of Misrule, after years of the title being held by males. Though she didn't go so far as to shave her head, Troche did manage to get time on KSCU to explain why her Graham building is the best and put up posters in other dorms praising Graham.
She said that she was essentially drafted into the competition by friends, admitting that "part of college is being adventurous" and called the trailblazing victory "really, really cool." Graciously, she also wanted to make sure it was noted that, "I couldn't have done it without my floor."
So remember, if you see a group of people walking toward Benson in togas or doing something especially wild during the first week of winter quarter next year, it might not be because they lost a bet; they could be competing in the glorious festival of Saturnalia.
Contact James at jhill@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.