On Saturday, February 19, from approximately 10:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m., dozens of Fords passed through Founders Great Hall in various states of costume, each carefully groomed to indicate their allegiance to one side of an age-old rivalry: Mathlete vs. Athlete.
Sponsored by SECS, this year’s Mathletes Vs. Athletes Dance was the first of its kind in Founders dance history, rumored, to the disgruntlement of some of the more nostalgic students, to have replaced the ’90s dance. While the Athletes, clad mostly in basketball shorts, ill-fitting jerseys, and spandex, put up a strong showing of vigorous, athletic dancing to a selection of pop songs with a confrontational vibe (DJ Khaled’s complex lyrical composition “All I Do Is Win,” for example), the Mathletes’ efforts were not to be sneezed at—despite their allergies to almost everything. Pushing their oversized glasses back atop their sweaty noses and adjusting their suspenders, they mounted a firm challenge to the common assumption that nerds have no rhythm and only enjoy dancing alone in their rooms to Wham!
At the end of the night, it was unclear which caricature of an already absurdly hackneyed stereotype had triumphed—it was even unclear to this reporter if the majority of students in attendance were aware that there was a contest going on, as I witnessed a great number of my fellow mathletes carousing, quite openly, with athletes. It must be admitted, however, that I very much appreciated the opportunity to show off the knee-high argyle socks my mother bought me for Christmas.
–Maddie Hoagland-Hanson ’11