Carnegie Mellon Community Welcomes First-Ever Tartan Olympics

A group of students from Carnegie Mellon’s National Society of Black Engineers won the first-ever Tartan Olympics on Saturday, January 24, claiming a $500 first-place prize for their organization. The NSBE-ians earned wins in karaoke, tug-of-war and juggling contests to edge out the second-place finishers.

The Carnegie Mellon Student-Athlete Advisory Council created the Tartan Olympics in an effort to integrate all members of the campus community. After a year of planning, more than 150 students showed up on Saturday to display a multitude of talents in a wide range of events.

“The Student-Athlete Advisory Council worked diligently to put together the inaugural Tartan Olympics and their efforts were met with great success,” said Director of Athletics Susan Bassett. “The event engaged students from across campus and was met with a tremendous amount of community spirit.”

Last winter, SAAC co-chairs Jon Hall and Cara Fatigati, along with Council member Timi Abimbola, traveled to Dallas to take part in the NCAA Division III Regional Leadership Conference. During their time in the Longhorn State, the trio met with 200 other student-athletes from around the country and had a chance to nurture their leadership skills.

Part of the conference’s curriculum is to charge attendees to enact positive change upon their return to campus. Jon, Cara and Timi developed an action plan that strived to share aspects of the student-athlete experience with the entire Carnegie Mellon community while integrating students, staff and faculty under the fold of competition.

“Our hope was to create an event that would bring together the entire community,” Fatigati said. “There is a great deal of community spirit at Carnegie Mellon and we wanted to engage everyone in an athletics-style competition so we could have fun and celebrate our diversity.”

Twelve different events were offered in the inaugural Tartan Olympics – Rubik’s Cube Relay, Spelling Bee, Tartan Trivia, Theater, Knock-Out, Karaoke, Splash Competition, Eating Contest, Juggling, Scientific Discovery, Tug-of-War and Dodgeball. On Friday night, participants came together for a VIP reception during the women’s basketball game against the University of Chicago and competed in a three-point contest during halftime of the men’s game that evening.

On Sunday, the NSBE-ians were honored for their first-place finish during halftime of the women’s basketball game against Washington University in St. Louis. Donations from Jimmy John’s, Vocelli’s Pizza and the Carnegie Mellon University Bookstore also provided the opportunity to award prizes for the second- and third-place teams.

After a year of planning and hard work, the SAAC was all smiles after the successful completion of the first Tartan Olympics. But a couple of days later, conversations were already pointed toward next year.

“It’s going to be even bigger and better next time,” Fatigati added.