Students, athletes participate in Ram Spirit Fest

Students played games, took home prizes and received introductions to VCU’s athletic programs during Ram Spirit Fest Wednesday night at the Siegel Center. The event took the place of Ram Madness, which was unable to be held this year.

Doors to the Alltel Pavilion opened at 7 p.m. and every student was given a raffle ticket, which was necessary to claim prizes. Shortly after 7:35 p.m., master of ceremonies and reigning Homecoming King Darryl Greene called everyone’s attention to the raffle.

The night began with a series of contests, ranging from a hula-hoop contest to a potato sack race, to a tug-of-war contest between 10 male students and the women’s basketball team (which was won by the basketball team). In between the games, prizes were given out via raffle and teams were introduced. One student who had her ticket drawn to receive a prize was very shocked when Greene announced what she had won.

“Believe it or not, you’ve won a semester of free tuition,” he said.

When the teams were introduced, some tried to boost attendance to upcoming games.

“We play here (the Siegel Center) Friday and Saturday night and we’d love to see you fill the stands,” head volleyball coach James Finley told the crowd.

Others wanted to remind students of past success and their hopes for the future.

“Last year, we had a record-breaking year . and this year we hope to do even better,” said assistant women’s basketball coach Julia Huddleston.

As the night wore down, students participated in one last contest – a dance-off which had three rounds: salsa, freestyle, then break dancing. After the contest ended, there was one last raffle: another free semester’s worth of tuition. Ten raffle ticket numbers were drawn out of a bucket and of those ten, only one would be the winner. However, the final drawing was not without controversy.

Some of the tickets that were drawn had numbers of winners of previous game participants and winners. Those that had participated earlier were visibly disappointed because they were told they were ineligible to win the final prize. One tried to return the prize she had won earlier, an Apple iPod, in order to become eligible. After the 10 numbers were drawn, the majority of the remaining students left in disappointment that they were not selected.

While students participated in Ram Spirit Fest tonight, Ram Madness is expected to make a return next year, according to sources in the SGA.