The Involvement Center just kicked off its first ever annual Involvement Games, beginning on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017. The beginning of the two-week event saw 10 student groups, ranging from different fraternities and sororities to student-ran organizations like the Anime Club. For these groups, cash prizes of $500 and $250 toward organizational promotional items and a pizza party await the three victors of this competition.
Through the first week of this contest, five events have taken place. The first of which, were the "Minute to Win It" games. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in room 226 of in the Miron Student Center (MSC), members of different teams would race against each other in games involving stacking cups, rearranging marbles and flipping water bottles to land upright. After one event, the fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon would be number one in the standings.
Night two's event featured a blend of pop culture as the "Just Shazam It" commenced. A game similar to the popular television show, where members of each team were tasked with naming a popular song before anyone else can. The competitive event lasted from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in room 315 of the Miron Student Center, as six student groups guessed away at their favorite tunes from today and the past.
The groups that participated were the fraternities of Nu Sigma Phi (NSP), Gamma Psi Epsilon and Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE), the sorority Nu Theta Chi (NOX) and the two student-ran organizations of Threads and the African Student Association. The Nu Sigma Phi Fraternity guessed the most songs correctly, and walked away with the definitive victory. The Threads organization and African Student Organization took second and third, respectively.
On the third day, four student groups showed their athletic skills in intense games of Ultimate Dodge-ball. Teams would dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge again in an outdoor tournament and groups such as Jumpstart and Tau Kappa Epsilon battled it out for the lead in a two-hour extravaganza in the effort to gain points for their organizations. On the tennis courts outside of the campus's dormitories, foam dodge-balls of all different colors flew through the air, were caught and collided with the many players on the court. After the tournament's end, Jumpstart grabbed the win and gotcloser to the leading spot atop the rankings.
After one week, here are the overall point totals for each team.
1. Jumpstart - 78 Points
2. Tau Kappa Epsilon - 73 Points
3. Nu Sigma Phi - 68 Points
4. Nu Theta Chi - 42 Points
5. Gamma Psi Epsilon - 35 Points
6. African Student Association - 34 Points
7. Threads - 32 Points
8. Omega Sigma Psi - 22 Points
9. Men of Excellence - 20 Points
10. Anime Club - 17 Points
After one week of action, the Involvement Games have certainly been competitive, and for good reasons. Week two will start with the next great challenge, the Social Scavenger Hunt. All members of each team will embark on a scavenger hunt across the Kean campus to find items and decipher clues for their team to win. Locations such as the Science, Technology and Math (STEM) building pond, the Wilkins Theater Ticket Booth and the Miron Student Center (MSC) Game Room will be in play for this challenge. This challenge will last for three days, ranging from Monday, September 25 through Thursday, September 28.
As the second week kicks off on Monday, all 10 teams will be aiming to win the grand prize of $500 to their organization and the opportunity to be named the first ever Champions of the Involvement Games.
