First-years strike a pose during the ’80s-inspired performance.
Photo: Janelle Moore
Author: Diana Rogers
This year’s Battle of the Classes wrapped up last Friday, with the class of 2020 earning the first-place title.
All week, Chatham’s classes rounded up their school spirit to compete in BOTC, and they did not disappoint. From the volleyball tournament to the mystery event, students were ready to fight for their bragging rights.
Despite losing the song contest to the junior class, the first-years earned points in the volleyball and window painting events to take home the gold.
“You guys really brought it!” said Maryann Fix, a senior studying Social Work and Psychology. The senior class claimed third, having won the Chopped-themed mystery event and attending Friday’s song contest jokingly chanting “we showed up.”
The song contest, always the most popular event, gathered students in Eddy Theater to see popular songs rewritten with lyrics about Chatham itself.
Acts from every class came prepared with jokes and songs about everything from this year’s power outage to the struggles of the FAFSA and anything in between. As ever, Beyonce songs and the ghost of Rachel Carson made appearances.
The junior class won for the song parody contest, with the “Family Feud”-inspired game show “Cougar Feud,” whose host came onstage complete with paste-on mustache. The juniors’ set included songs about internships, Maymester, and every college student’s best friend: coffee.
Photo: Janelle Moore
Other notable acts were the Class of 2017’s “All the Senior Ladies” and the first-years’ theme of music from the 1980s. The Class of 2019 seemed to drop the ball this year. With only five students participating, they experienced flubs during their single prepared song. The seniors were there to help their sister class, though, and joined the sophomores on stage to participate.
DJ Jeph English emceed, entertaining the audience with music and jokes in between acts. After the song contest, he kept the music playing in the Rhea coffeehouse, where students celebrated the win with dancing and cupcakes.
The graduating seniors also announced their class gift during Friday’s events. The Class of 2017 will be establishing a scholarship for returning students who are in need of financial help and exemplify Chatham’s values.