On March 3, Judson students and their parents gathered in the Riddle Gymnasium for the annual Parent’s Day Basketball Tournament. Every spring semester Judson’s campus becomes host to the parents of students who travel from various regions to visit their daughters. The day is filled with activities, including a basketball tournament, skit presentations, and a pie-in-the-face fundraiser. Each year Parent’s Day focuses on a specific theme. This year’s theme was for each team to represent a country in the Olympics. The chosen country could be real or made-up. Therefore, the different skits and team throughout the day based themselves off a specific country.
The basketball tournament, one of the most popular events of Parent’s Day, consisted of three different teams: the Madagascar We Movin’ Up representing WMU, the Barron Bolivian Bowl Cuts representing Barron, and The Kirtley Islands representing Kirtley. Each team consisted of members from their respective dorms; the girls got together to practice weeks in advance to prepare for the tournament. The best part? No experience needed! The Parent’s Day Basketball Tournament is almost as popular as Hockey Day due to the fact that Judson girls do not have to have prior experience playing basketball to be a part of the team. While it is competitive, the main goal of the tournament is to have fun and help form bonds between Judson sisters while their parents spectate and cheer. Both Kirtley and Barron contested bravely, but WMU came away with the Parent’s Day championship.
After the championship game between the student dorms, an All-Star team was selected. The All-Star team is composed of some of the best students from each team, and they are chosen to play against the faculty team. Despite the best efforts of the All-Star team, the Faculty and Staff team walked away victorious.
After the completion of the games, each dorm presents a themed skit. The Kirtley Islands presented a skit about being islanders and performed to the song “Lip Gloss.” The Barron Bolivian Bowl Cuts performed a fantastic dance number, and WMU composed a skit that included characters from the movie “Madagascar.”
Perhaps one of the most anticipated events of Parent’s Day is the Pie-In-The-Face contest. Students, teachers, and various other members of the faculty volunteer to be auctioned off to have a pie thrown in their face. The volunteer is called up, and students and faculty place bids to earn the right to throw the pie at them. The money raised during the auction goes to fund the Spring Break mission trips. The most popular member of the faculty to be auctioned was interim president Dr. Scott Bullard. Several students worked to out-bid Dean of Students Susan Jones in winning the rights to pie Dr. Bullard. Senior Katie Owens, when asked to recount the events, recalled that several students at first bid individually but were outbid by Dean Jones. In order to beat Dean Jones, Owens and approximately five other students pooled their money, which came out to $500, and won the right to pie Dr. Bullard. When it came time to throw the pie, the six students were forced to devise a way to split the pie six ways. This was only a temporary delay, however. “It was great,” said Owens. “We all just kind of grabbed a handful and threw it in his face!”
Micaylee Clayton
Student Life Editor
mclayton@judson..edu