The first official week of the semester brought excitement and entertainment to campus, as students used their syllabus week to get out and participate in a series of events and competitions known as “Alpha Week.”

Alpha Week is the opening stage to a greater, yearlong competition between the dorms or “houses,” called the “House Collective.” Each house, named for a virtue in Latin, earns points depending on their performance during the competitions, and the points are totaled up at the end of the school year to reveal the winning house.

The week started off with an electric welcome ceremony in Hoke Auditorium, titled “The Reunion & The Draft,” where each house showed off their spirit via signs, chants and face paint.

The houses were introduced with self-created highlight videos, followed by an on-stage interview of the RAs of each hall. Most houses showed up in full force, sporting a good 20+ members. On the flip side, Deandre Leith, an RA of House Justitia was the sole member of his house at the event because most of his housemates are athletes who could not attend. However, his motivating, valiant speech on behalf of the rest of his house garnered respect and applause from the rest of the houses, creating one of the best moments of the night.

The first competition of the year between the houses took place in the form of the game Human Battleship held on The Quad. Fifteen members of each house sat down on chairs and situated themselves into various formations, or battleships. With the teams being separated by a covered volleyball net, one member of each team was tasked with throwing water balloons over to the other side to “sink” the other team’s ships. The opponent’s ships were not visible to the throwers, but the throwers could earn hints as to the location of the ships by sending a member of their team to sing a karaoke song. Complementing the games was food, line dancing, and witty commentary from the event’s host, Drayton Howie, a House of Virtus RA.

“I was born to host events,” Howie joked.

The week also saw the mens soccer team complete a comeback victory against Campbellsville University, as the 2-1 first-half deficit was turned into a 3-2 victory for the Rams. The game was not glamorous by any means, as the field was drenched by rain. But CIU found a way to pull through and mark their home opener with a W.

The week came a close with a bonfire night by the pond, where students put away their competitive spirits and came together to eat s’mores and worship the Lord.

Community is at the heart of CIU where we’re celebrating 100 years of educating people from a biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ. The university consistently ranks among the Top Regional Universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report, as well as a Best Value Regional University in the South. Apply now or request information by contacting Admissions at (803) 807-5024 or admissions@ciu.edu.