Campus Survivor

Students stage campus version of television's 'Survivor' series

By: By Nishat Fatima

Posted: 11/26/02

Twelve unshowered students tramped around campus for four days last week. They participated in the first "Campus Survivor," modeled after CBS' "Survivor."

Ryan Anderson, a senior biomedical sciences major, said the competition was purely for fun and anybody could participate.

"We asked some of our friends to come and join us," he said. "We eventually got 12 guys to participate. There wasn't really a criteria except that you had to be OK with not showering for a few days."

The games began on Sunday, Nov. 17 and ended Thursday, Nov. 21.

Anderson said that in contrast to the television show's tropical-paradise competition, participants in "Campus Survivor" could not leave Texas A&M University's campus. They couldn't enter any of the dorms and were required to live out of their backpacks. Contestants had to shower at the Recreational Center and eat on campus.

Contestants could be recognized by their bright headbands, which drew a lot of positive and negative attention from other students, Anderson said.

Like the television show, they were divided into tribes that consisted of four contestants each. The tribes competed in a variety of challenges in which they were awarded "immunity" if they won. Losing tribes were forced to vote off members.

"We had a variety of challenges such as creating a device that could float in Rudder Fountain while holding a person, going to Hullabaloo to see who could get the most phone numbers from girls and leg wrestling," said Nathaniel Taylor, a senior computer science major.

Taylor said the purpose of the event extended beyond its competitive aspect. He said "Campus Survivor" was mostly about having fun.

"We structured it to where the people who got voted off were still involved in other ways. It was just a way for all of us to be crazy and hang out," he said.

Jon Henigan, a junior accounting major, found most of his joy in voting his teammates off after the competitions.

"I voted a lot of people off, but they were mostly the ones who came up to me and said we should vote somebody else off. It made them look like backstabbers and added an element of humorous drama to the whole situation."

Henigan said the voting criteria differed from the actual "Survivor."

"It was different because on the show the people that aren't contributing get voted off," he said. "In our version, all you basically had to do was stay on campus and look gross. We didn't need anybody's help to do that."

Kevin Prater, a sophomore marketing major, said an even bigger challenge was finding a place to sleep when the games ended. His tribe spent one night in a Langford classroom and another night on the floor of the Student Computing Center.

"The next morning, the custodians couldn't figure out when the lounge became a hotel room," he said.

Prater said his tribe received a university warning for one of their sleeping arrangements.

"One night, a bunch of us got together and used tarp, pieces of wood and barricades to build a fort next to Rudder Fountain," he said. "We got caught by one of the MSC administrators, but she let us off with a warning."

Nathan Bowden, a junior business major, said plans for next semester's "Campus Survivor" are already underway.

"We want to have the competition again next semester and we want to call it 'Campus Survivor: Northgate,'" he said. "We hope that it can become a tradition in the making."

Those who are interested in "Campus Survivor: Northgate" can call 227-0746 and ask for Ryan.