BY Tuma Haji
On Friday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. Drake’s Campus Fellowship held a Dodgeball Tournament outside Olmsted Center. “The Campus fellowship is a Christian organization that hopes to draw people closer to god. Whether they already practice religion or are just exploring, through fun activities,” College Ministry Director, Jacob Van Sickle said.
“Oh, people love dodgeball… maybe because of the movie ‘Dodgeball’?” Van Sickle said. “Yeah we just found that dodgeball and it seems to be something people are into.”
This is the sixth year that Campus Fellowship put on a dodgeball tournament. The games last seven minutes each and they’re organized into a tournament style. Anyone attending Drake University is welcome to attend and participate. The teams are organized by the freshmen dorms; Carpenter, Crawford, Herriot and Stalnaker – along with the upperclassmen. Each team is organized by color Carpenter red, Crawford blue, Herriot green, Stalnaker black and the upperclassmen sported white.
“This feels like accepting, fun competition,” Kate Johnson ‘22, said. When students were asked how they feel about Drake having a Dodgeball tournament, many said that it felt safe due to it the fun atmosphere A lot of schools around the country having removed dodgeball from the Physical Education curriculum due to it being “too violent.”
“It’s (dodgeball) not required like in P.E. class, so it’s safer and more fun,” Rachel Dehmlow said.
There are several ways you can hear about Drake activities around campus. First there is an online Facebook page for Drake students that have frequent posts, second there is a large wall in Olmsted that has many fliers for Drake activities.
“I’m into it (Dodgeball) because I saw the movie… My floormate has been talking about this nonstop since welcome weekend started. She’s been so bumped, so she dragged me out here so now I’m supporting her,” Sarah Farwell said.
The movie Dodgeball came out in 2011 and it stars Ben Stiller, Vance Vaughan, Justin Long and Christine Taylor. The movie was mentioned twice in reasons as to why this dodgeball tournament occurred.
Drake has a wide variety of activities that get students involved and socializing. The activities range from a dodgeball tournament all the way to movies on Friday nights to simple activities in Lower Hubbell.
The Drake Campus Fellowship has several different events that happen weekly with larger events a couple times a month. The next large event run by the Campus Fellowship is on September 2. This event is titled the River Float Trip and you can find more information on their website.
This is a tournament that happens every year in the beginning of the school year. All students are welcome. The tournament offers students the opportunity to socialize and meet a religious group. This campus activity was created and managed by Jacob Van Sickle the College Ministry Director. You can find him at the Walnut Creek Church on Locust Street, Des Moines IA.
