By the first week of February, Coker College students have normally had their fill of cold, dreary weather and are looking forward to breaking the monotony by taking part in some ‘udde-rly” crazy events that are all part of college’s annual COW Days.
An acronym for Coker Olympics of Winter, the event began Monday and will culminate Saturday with the official COW Day Games, which put teams from each class against one another in event such as a tug of war, a hot wing eating contest, a cow patty balancing contest, a tobacco sitting contest, a farmers’ race to name just a few.
“COW Days is just one of many events we do at Coker in the name of ‘tradition,’” said Dean of Students Jason Umfress. “Traditions, however, are merely repeated actions unless we pause to celebrate the meaning and history behind them.”
Students have already participated in a Hunk Contest on Monday, a Red Cross blood drive and Miss Cow Pageant Tuesday, basketball games on Wednesday. A Paint-a-Cow/Pool Tournament is scheduled for Thursday. On Friday, a lip sync contest will bring out the best fake singers on campus.
Students will converge on the Bell Tower Lawn in front of Davidson Hall Saturday morning at 10 a.m. to decide which class will bragging rights they can milk for the remainder of the year. The seniors and sophomores, called Violet Power, will compete against the freshmen and juniors, called the Green Machine, to win the coveted title of COW Days Championship and a steak lunch afterwards.
As a newcomer to Coker last year, Umfress said he went digging for the history and what he discovered was that COW Days began in February of 1976 as the Coker College Union’s answer to a lack of activities on campus during the winter months.
“After a bit of brainstorming, a student suggested they have a competition where classes would compete against each other,” Umfress said. “The competition would be modeled after a popular television show at the time, ‘Almost Anything Goes.’”
Under the guidance of Professor Fred Edinger, then the Associate Dean of Student Development, the students prepared a list of games and held the first Coker Olympics of Winter.
“To their delight, COW Days was an instant success,” Umfress said. “Students loved the idea of competing against their classmates, participating in fun activities, and getting a little messy…all in the name of Coker class pride. The 1976 games were successful, and plans were made to continue the event the next year. The rest, as they say, is history.”
(This story was originially published on Feb.1, 2012)
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