SAAC Hosts Fourth Annual Tartan Olympics

A group of students from the Beta Fraternity won the fourth annual Tartan Olympics on Saturday, February 4, claiming a $500 first-place prize on behalf of St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The campus-wide event is open to all students and offers contests in mental, physical and skill-related games.

During the 2008-09 academic year, the Carnegie Mellon Student-Athlete Advisory Council created the Tartan Olympics in an effort to integrate all members of the campus community. On Saturday, more than 200 members of the campus community showed up to display a multitude of talents in a wide range of events.

“Over the past four years, the annual Tartan Olympics has been a great event that brings our entire Carnegie Mellon campus together,” said SAAC co-chair Emily Peel. “This year we had the most teams sign up to compete and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. The competition was fun and the time all of the SAAC members spent planning really paid off. The event was great and will improve even more next year.”

Eight different events were offered on Saturday – Trivia, Knockout, Checkers, Scientific Discovery, Eating Contest, Karaoke and Dodgeball. A team relay included a sack race, egg walk, word search, Rubik’s Cube, push-ups and putting. On Friday night, participants came together for a pizza party during the women’s basketball game against NYU and competed in a three-point contest during halftime of the men’s game that evening.

On Sunday, Beta was honored for its first-place finish during halftime of the women’s basketball game against Brandeis. Donations from Dunkin’ Donuts, W.G. Grinders and the Carnegie Mellon University Bookstore also provided the opportunity to award prizes for the second through fifth-place teams.