CONCEPT
The Hunt, 2004, that is.
First things first: if you can’t be in Chicago to check this out, here’s the link to the list. Click on “2004 list.” It will open as a .pdf.
Right now I’m sitting here with former head judge MK while he uploads the list. Soon I will go to campus to get my free encased meats (hot dog) while watching each teams’ “Subservient Weiner” please passerby. Then this afternoon, I’ll mosey over to Kirsten to see an atomic Physics prof. get an “atomic wedgie.”
WHY IS ALL THIS HAPPENING
The Scavenger Hunt was started in 1987 (18 years ago), and I forget a lot of the details. The first judge was Christopher Straus and he and other judges assembled an assortment of items which teams registered to compete for, over the course of several days.
Other traditions, such as the road trip, party on the quads, and talent show, have been added as time’s gone by. Also the list has evolved, becoming more difficult, involved, obscure, and all-encompassing.
As the list has evolved, such has the teams. In early years, when only a few groups were involved in Scavhunt, student organizations (like Moden UN) or individual houses (Vincent house) would frequently win the Hunt. Over time, though, as the Hunt became more popular, someone caught onto the idea that dorm teams provided more manpower, connections, resources, and funding opportunities. The larger dorms quickly dominated the Hunt, though independent teams never really died out. Teams have gone so far as to get corporate sponsorship and alumni donations. Often the cost of winning the Hunt is several thousand (while prize money is in the hundreds). There has been a return, in recent years, to “scavenging” teams that mobilize out of a number of different dorms and focus on collecting materials rather than raising funds.
This year ten teams are competing.
They include: the Shoreland dorm, Max Palevsky dorm, Snell-Hitchcock dorm, Pierce dorm, the Federation of Independent Scav Hunt Teams (FIST), a Vegan team, Breckenridge/Hoover dorm/house, Vincent house, the Czechs, and an unafilliated team. At least several hundred people are involved.
More later. Got to run.
~ Connor