Inspired by the Choir, Kappa Sigma, and SGA playing assassins within their organizations, our campus Lord and Savior, Skeeter the Catahoula, wanted to play a game the entire campus could participate in. So, he decided to host a Centenary College Hunger Games; the tributes being anyone on campus, including faculty or staff. The Reaping was held the day before the Games on March 22nd during lunch on the Caf Deck. Instead of taking the time to divide people up into districts intentionally, some of the paper strips were put into twelve labeled buckets that RHA used for their raffles. 

The tributes were as follows: from District 1, Dean Mark Miller and Provost Soul; from District 2, President Holoman and Dr. AB; from District 3, Dr. Hamming and Dr. JP; from District 4, Dr. Hendricks and Dr. Martin; from District 5, Emily Moreno and Cassie Halford; from District 6, Alaina Owens and Aubrey Salazar; from District 7, Haley Bordelon and Dr. Kress; from District 8, Kyle Comi and Emilie Adams; from District 9, Dr. Blasi and Kallie Pierce; from District 10, Don Hooper and Emma Greer; from District 11, Jordan Fong and LC Moffitt; finally, from District 12, Remi Miller and Reece Maguire. 

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the First Annual Centenary College Hunger Games! The games were held during the day of March 23rd to get everyone in the mood for that evening’s Room Preference Night. Our arena, the Gold Dome (because we’re resourceful and also broke), featured a cornucopia of food and weapons (props provided by the Theater department). Each of the four corners of the basketball court were outfitted to represent a different habitat. Note cards with prompts were taped face down on the court, and had to be picked up by the tribute that stepped on them. The prompts ranged from sponsor deliveries, inconveniences, or non-violent causes of death. To keep the action going (and because we didn’t have all day), each day and night was represented by fifteen minute segments, except for two special segments known as “The Bloodbath” and “The Feast.” 

The Bloodbath saw a frenzy of tributes running to or away from the cornucopia, fighting for resources at the cornucopia, or making their first kills. The first three “deaths” happened as well: Jordan killed Remi with a prop sickle, the same type of weapon Kyle used to kill Dr. AB, and Alaina killed Provost Soul by throwing a knife at her head. It should be noted that since there weren’t real injuries, the judgment for whether or not a tribute was dead was a decision made by the Gamemakers (Skeeter, Charlie Roppolo, and me, of course). 

Day 1 saw some alliances form with Haley and Emma teaming up to hunt for other tributes, as well as Jordan and Dr. Kress in another part of the arena. Dr. Hendricks, LC, and Emily tracked down and killed Don because he was too much of a threat. Dr. Hamming tried to sneak an attack on Reece, but she escaped. Various cards were stepped on: both Kyle and Cassie were told to pick flowers; Aubrey had to verbally question her sanity; Dr. JP was instructed to beg someone to kill her, but she chose Alaina, who showed her mercy, keeping her alive. 

Night 1 was more exciting because some of the tributes got creative with their kills, and the note cards created much amusement for the Centenary Capitol citizens in the stands. Emilie, Jordan, Reece, and Aubrey huddled together for warmth, but it was not around the fire Dr. Hamming wanted to start, as she got a card that said she couldn’t successfully make a fire. Emily set off the explosion simulator that “kills” anyone in a five foot vicinity which included Emma. Haley snuck up to Dr. Holoman while he wasn’t looking and snapped his neck. In an interview after joining the crowd, he said that he thought the kill shouldn’t count, but the Gamemakers all agreed that the creativity points overrode the fact that he was president of the college. Sorry, Dr. Holoman, I was still rooting for you, personally. Kallie died after getting a note card saying she ate poisonous berries. The last death of the night was another sneak attack, this time by the hands of the sweet Dr. Martin who was “here to win and not play.” Her victim was Alaina. 

The cannons sounded marking the first eight deaths of the games, then the remaining sixteen tributes began Day 2. Reece once again succeeded in escaping a kill at the hands of Dr. Martin. Dr. Blasi and LC decided to split up and search for resources, while Kyle wasn’t as friendly when he stole from Dr. Hamming when she wasn’t looking. Mark Miller got into a fight with Dr. JP and Dr. Kress, but he only managed to kill Dr. Kress before Dr. JP ran away. The last death of the day was Aubrey unfortunately stepping on a card that said she committed suicide, so she had to join the audience.

It was during Night 2 that sponsor note cards popped up with Jordan receiving food and Emilie receiving medical supplies. LC had to sing herself to sleep while Reece stepped on the other note card that kept someone from making a fire. Dr. Hendricks unfortunately got one that said he died of hunger. The only true kill that happened that night was Cassie ambushing Dr. Blasi. 

Before Day 3, the second cannons went off for four tributes, sad I know, but now, only half of the tributes remained. This made it easier to follow the action; however, there were no deaths during this segment which was boring. Night 3 made up for it, though. The explosion simulator was set off again, this time by Emilie (is there an Emily/Emilie and explosives thing?), killing both Cassie and Dr. Hamming. One notable card made Jordan and Mark Miller share stories about themselves to each other.

The third cannons sounded, and with just ten tributes left, Day 4 was intense. Emilie and Emily fought with Mark Miller, but he prevailed, killing both of them. What a way to go, am I right? The third time was the charm for killing Reece as LC successfully caught her off guard and stabbed her. Kyle found a cave under the bleachers; but he left it during the next segment, Night 4, so that he could kill Mark Miller for his supplies. Night 4 was calmer for the other tributes who all either huddled for warmth like LC and Jordan or slept in shifts: Dr. Martin, Haley, and Dr. JP.

Now it was time for “The Feast” where the cornucopia was replenished with supplies and food. Before that, though, was the fourth cannon sounding for four tributes. Six remained for The Feast, but Dr. Martin said she didn’t need anything, so she stayed behind. LC rushed to the cornucopia and escaped early, but Dr. JP and Kyle were not as lucky. In a fight over resources, Jordan killed Dr. JP with a sickle, and Haley bashed Kyle’s head into a rock. The Feast turned into Day 5 where LC poisoned Haley’s drink, and Jordan got a card that made her die of hypothermia. This left Dr. Martin and LC, two tributes very determined to win, going into Night 5. 

We were all anticipating the ultimate showdown between student and professor, but before that could happen, Dr. Martin stepped on a note card. The Gold Dome went silent, waiting to see what it said, so there was no missing the string of expletives that left her mouth when it said she died of dysentery. LC pumped her fist triumphantly to the sound of applause as she was named the victor. Thank you for tuning in! I hope you’ll be back next year to see who will have the odds ever in their favor. 

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