Admission Tradition
We Admit It! We take the annual Deans vs. Interviewers Kickball Challenge VERY seriously; some may say too seriously. To them we say no such thing. I mean the Closing Ceremonies may have come and gone but we consider this a medal-worthy event. After all, this is for pride—Tribe Pride if you will. And bragging rights, and trash talk, and not to mention bragging rights. And to think it all started nine summers ago when an Interviewer in the first class went to K-Mart, saw a kickball and bought it. The rest is history.
In case you’re scoring at home, Team Deans (#teamdeans if you wish to join the conversation on Twitter) entered this year’s match having won six times, the Interviewers a mere two times. The game is played until the bitter end with home runs, pop fly balls, one base on an overthrows and much much more.
This year’s Senior Interviewers are calling themselves the 12s Society (there are 12 of them, they’re interning in the summer of 2012 and there’s a much beloved secret society on campus called the 7s Society). The challenge was issued on Monday. Toilet paper 12s lined our office. Each dean was greeted with a personal secret society message of gratitude and handwritten note of mild thread and intimidation. A video challenge was also issued in an attempt to intimidate by fear (needless to say, it failed).
On Wednesday evening, the teams took the field. Uniforms were worn, the rules were discussed, the game was played. There were diving catches and home runs on both sides. It was a hard fought contest, but at the end, the Interviewers were victorious. It’s important to note however, that the Interviewers stay the same age every year while the deans continue to get older (plus for those counting at home the deans still lead the series 6-3). And, as is tradition (and W&M is no stranger to tradition), the game was of course followed by revelry, refreshments and most importantly, food.
The tradition continues...
This is our office. These are our students and staff. This is William & Mary; a community of engaging and interesting people coming together as a community through valued traditions. Kickball is only one of many and certainly on the less serious side of our storied and celebrated campus occasions but we love it just the same.
Wendy Livingston ’03, M.Ed. ‘09
Senior Assistant Dean of Admission
Comments are closed on posts older than one year, but we still want to hear from you. If you have a comment or question for us, please email admission@wm.edu.
Our vote is with Aaron – loved meeting him when our daughter Katherine interviewed in July.
Go Tribe! Thanks for being so welcoming to a HS sophomore tour, HS junior attending a class, and incoming HS Senior for an interview.
@Kimberly, so glad you and Katherine enjoyed meeting Aaron. Good thing his people skills are better than his kickball skills (ah, the trash talking continues). Hard to be serious about it though given Aaron was on the winning team!