By JAELYN LENTZ
Despite adverse weather conditions, students, staff and alumni attended the annual Kissing Rock event Thursday night. Couples and single individuals came out in swathes to celebrate Drake’s long-standing tradition with food and games. The Kissing Rock event is centered around the physical rock that replaced the Chancellor’s Elm in the 1960s.
“The thought behind it is if you kiss on the rock you’ll have everlasting love,” said Hannah Albrecht, Vice President of Traditions for the Student Alumni Association.
The night kicked off with a rousing game of jeopardy between a team of Drake staff and a team of Drake Alumni, covering everything from love songs to romantic comedies. The alumni won after stealing a question when the Drake staff were unable to correctly answer.
The next event was the most anticipated for many. It was time for the couple games tournament. Hannah Albrecht expressed her excitement for the games.
“We celebrate our love of Drake and love for each other by coming out and playing couples games,” Albrecht said.
Couples who signed up prior to the event competed in five different games to see who would be considered #ultimatecouplegoals. Couples were eliminated as they lost the challenges.
The first game consisted of the couples running around in circles to music until it stopped. When the music stopped, two body parts would be yelled out by the game moderator and the couple would have to find each other and put the two body parts together.
The next game was a relay where one partner would have to carry a lifesaver on a straw in their mouth across to their other partner. They would then move the lifesaver to their partner’s straw without using their hands.
The third game was pictionary between partners followed by trivia. When it was down to two final couples, they began to play “The Newlywed Game,” where each person was asked a question and they had to guess what their partner’s answer would be.
In the end, Ravyn Anderson, a first-year at Drake, and her boyfriend, Austin Hall, won the couples tournament.
On top of these events, the popular live mascot, Griff, made an appearance. He posed for pictures at the photo booth and even gave out a few smooches on the kissing rock. Ashly Frazier, a first-year, was one of the lucky individuals who was on the receiving end of a Griff kiss.
“Honestly, my favorite part was getting a kiss from Griff,” Frazier said.
Another first-year student, Taylor Bahr, reflected upon her experience at the event.
“As a first-year, I didn’t really know what to expect when going to the kissing rock event,” Bahr said. “It was really fun to be part of a Drake tradition for the first time and I enjoyed the event as a whole.”
The event concluded with performances from Drake’s acapella groups, Fermata the Blue and the Brocal Chords. Both groups maintained the mood of the night by singing love songs as the night came to a close.
