TRADITION CARRYING ON THE ANNUAL EVENTS OF CLUB WEEK S ocial clubs were an integral part of the Harding experience. Every year, hundreds of students applied for the club process in hopes of being part of a social club. Each club had its own traditions during club week that made them unique and added to that club's personality. The men's social clubs TNT and Titans were known for their Monday night sporting activities. Both clubs hosted and participated in an event known as the Iron Man. Many gathered on the intramural fields to witness the battle of wit, strength and endurance between these two clubs. Club Week marked the third annual Iron Man competition between TNT and Titans. The competition consisted of an under/over race the length of a standard football field, a tire-flip relay race, a relay foot race and a tug-of-war competition. Only the new members of each club participated in the Iron Man competition, while the existing members cheered on their new members from the sidelines. Junior TNT club member Silas Heffley believed that healthy competition during club week encouraged bonds between the various clubs on campus. "There is something about honest, tough competition that bonds opponents," Heffley said. "I believe that this bond is even stronger at a Christian university like Harding, where the ultimate goal is to glorify God. A bond is formed when two clubs put forth effort to defeat each other, but they are doing it in God's name. Nothing illustrates this better than a prayer after every club game. We are all on the same team out there." Pikes, another men's social club, had a tradition with a strange symbolic twist. Pikes members set up an obstacle course at Harding Academy's gym where new members completed the course with an apple in their left pant pocket, green army men in their right pocket and white tube socks on their feet. Old members explained that the apple symbolized the color maroon, which meant brotherhood. The army men were green, which represented unity, and the tube socks were white, representing integrity. "This tradition made me feel like I belong, because it brought me close to my club brothers and it gave some meaning and history to Pikes," senior Adin Menkin said. " It brought us together because we were all doing the same thing and learning about the club together." While not all traditions involved obstacle courses or athletic competitions, they all involved a group activity. Ko Jo Kai member junior Nicole Wallace's favorite tradition was doing the Kojie Rumble, a traditional cheer performed at all-club. "As a new member, I saw how important these traditions were to the older me~bers, and I knew they would always last," Wallace said. "When people think of Kojies, this is what they know us by." The men of Chi Sigma Alpha had an all-nighter in the Ganus Athletic Center every year after their Friday night activities. Junior member Tyler Jones thought this was the best way to end the week. "We usually play volleyball or basketball, and have fun bro talks with our sponsors," Jones said. "I really appreciate that our lock-in is in the GAC because it is a symbolic way to end Club Week. Seeing how every night ends with the GAC being filled with all of the clubs, having the whole building to ourselves that one night is a reminder that [Club] Week is about becoming united through the brotherhood of Chi Sigs." While traditions varied, the sense of solidarity among members was something valuable that every club experienced. New members were immediately able to build a connection with a group established years before their arrival. Reid Belew/Mallory Johnson Junior Harrison Waldron introduces the Black Knight to the crowd gathered to watch the Knights joust on Oct. 31. The new members of Knights came dressed in armor of their own design, prepared to joust against new and current members on the lawn between the Ezell building and Keller Hall. Matt Dobson
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