By Maya Speece, CIU Student Writer
The Shofar Cup Weekend is a highlight in Columba International University’s yearlong House Collective competition. The House Collective is a staple of CIU’s student life, where each residence hall, named for a Latin virtue, competes for points in various events throughout the school year. The Shofar Cup Weekend this year included: Volleyball, Coffee Haus, Cook Off, and Dodgeball.
Volleyball
The seven House Collective teams competed in tournament style volleyball. The energy was high as the teams dove to save the ball or spike it over the net.
The teams were paired into the brother/sister houses with Aequitas as its own team. Each team had six players who volunteered to represent their house.
Veritas and Virtus won, beating Sapientia and Fidelitas and further securing their lead on the House Collective scoreboard.
Abi Comstock said, “as a freshman, I’m still getting used to the house events, but it is so fun to participate and watch my house compete.”
Coffee Haus
Friday night’s Coffee Haus was a vastly different setting than volleyball. Smooth jazz played in the dimly lit Hoke Auditorium as students milled about drinking coffee and looking at the creative pieces. The exhibits included essays, photography, artwork, poetry and other crafts.
To earn points for their house, students submitted creative works to the Student Life office. Awards were given in each category for first, second and third place.
Hannah Moore, who won first place in poetry, stood up and read her poem to great applause from her friends and peers. Caroline Birdsong won first place in artwork for the second year in a row for her realistic sketch of a family.
The Recreation Team, which helps organize each event, reported that they were very happy to foster friendly competition and build community among the students.
The Cook Off
Each team gathered in the cafeteria to make a three-course meal for the selected judges. Rushing to complete their appetizers, entrees, and desserts, the teams relied on their servers to present the food and grab ingredients or cooking utensils for them.
Virtus was voted the winner of the Cook Off, although Aequitas and Sapentia also won awards for their dishes.
One of the judges, Julie Crosby said upon seeing the first course “everything looks exquisite, but not just exquisite, refined.”
Many of the dishes included traditional meals from Brazil, Korea and Thailand. Another judge, Deandre Lieth exclaimed that “I’m getting an international experience.”
Dodgeball
The final event of Shofar Cup was dodgeball. Like volleyball, the teams were paired with their sibling house. Balls were flying across the gymnasium at record speeds to win each round.
After six rounds of fierce competition, Sapientia and Fidelitas won the dodgeball tournament as they cheered the official names of their dorms. The houses signature chants of “P E to the T T Y!” and “West side, best side!” echoed around the gym when the decisive point was scored.
Only one house event remains this year — the Ram Relay. Each team still has one more chance to win points to get the House Collective Cup. Which house will take the Cup this year?
(Photo: Kaedance Quaye (left) and Holland Waller compete in the Cook Off for Fidelitas.)
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