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Every university has its cherished traditions. Some are almost solemn, some are pure entertainment. The class entering in the fall of 2022 should look forward to Athenian Day, which Mount Saint Mary’s welcomed back this past spring after a hiatus caused by COVID-19.

So what does Athenian Day entail? There was arm wrestling, relays and even lip-syncing. It may sound like something out of a new television game show, but it is actually a longstanding tradition at the Mount. For three decades, teams composed of students, faculty, staff and alumnae have competed against each other in a series of games designed to stimulate friendly competition on campus.

“As a new member of the Mount community, it was incredible to be able to join in on this Mount tradition,” says Ashleigh Spatt, director of enrollment marketing. “I was on a team with mostly students, and the way they collaborated on the challenges and pumped each other up was so inspiring.” 

Hosted by the Wellness Department, the event is typically held at the Chalon Campus Fitness Center and has its own traditions within the tradition. For example, every year has a theme and participants often dress up in costumes or team uniforms. Previous years’ themes included Jurassic Park and Harry Potter. This year’s theme: Disney Villains, were represented by Cruella de Vil from “101 Dalmatians” and Ursula from “The Little Mermaid,” among others.

It wouldn’t be a complete Athenian Day without three traditional games: arm wrestling, lip-sync battles and a truck push. A student quipped that the truck had to be pushed up a hill because of the sky-rocketing price of gas.

This year, teams prepared to lip-sync to Disney villain songs and were graded on their performances. With a Disney twist, the arm-wrestling competition transformed into a Beauty and the Beast’s Gaston station and the truck push took the form of Hades versus Hercules. 

Teams also played a supersized version of tic-tac-toe, “swimming” relays and completed a maze while blindfolded.

“The lip-sync battle was a great way to start the day,” said Lizette Gonzalez ’22, “because even though my team wasn't as prepared as the others, it felt like a good way to break the ice at the beginning of the day. Athenian day is a blast! It’s such a great way to be involved and get connected to other people you usually would not have the chance to interact with.”

Elissa Doering ’23 enjoyed the intensity of the participants, even though it negatively affected her performance. In the tic tac toe challenge, there was the added element of racing up to the board before placing their pieces. “I got so caught up in the running/speed part of the challenge that I threw my tic tac toe piece in the wrong square, so the other team won even though I had raced up before them!” she admitted.

“During the arm-wrestling challenge, one team had a member who was pretty much dominating, and everyone was feigning -- or maybe not -- terror to go up against her. It was fun how each team got into each challenge and would cheer super loud for their teammates.”

Despite some activities being repeated annually as part of the tradition, lots of planning goes into putting together Athenian Day. Mark Spellmire, then-director of sports, recreation and wellness, has led several Athenian Day events and said his love of puzzles, escape rooms and board games helps him organize the games.

“It's not heavily focused on fitness. It is more about communication, teamwork and strategizing,” he said. “These skills translate outside of the game when working on a classroom project or in one’s career.”

Both first-timers and repeat participants alike agree that this is a tradition that needs to continue, and they hope that it continues to build after its reintroduction into Mount life. “I’m not sure what ‘normal’ means anymore,” said Spatt, “but this was as close to a pre-COVID experience that I have had since the pandemic started. It was clear that everyone was just so happy to be here, hanging out with -- and sometimes trash talking -- their friends, all in the name of friendly competition!”

With plans for the construction of the new recreation center that would replace the current fitness area, Spellmire said that next year’s Athenian Day might take place at Doheny Campus.