Betrayal may not be the first word that comes to mind when thinking about brotherhood and trust-building, but for men’s social club Chi Sigma Alpha, it is. The annual Chi Sigma Alpha game of “Assassins” began on Feb. 1.
“Assassins” is a game that requires rubber band shooting skills, savvy stalking methods and strategic thinking. Each active member of the club, including the queens, is assigned another member in the club as a target. The objective of the game is to eliminate the target by shooting them with a rubber band. Once the rubber band comes in contact with the target, he or she is eliminated from the game. The successful player then receives the eliminated player’s target. If two or more people are surrounding a player, the kill does not count. Therefore, settings such as chapel, class and work are off-limits. The players must figure out the target’s class schedule, dorm, etc. while also avoiding his or her own assassin.
“At first you do a double take (at your target) because you are like, ‘surely not’,” senior Chi Sigma Alpha member Aaron West said. “Surely this human being has not wondered out on his lonesome . . . and then you sort of get this welling blissful feeling deep inside of you of pure joy. And then the killing instinct takes over and your eyes narrow, your pupils dilate and you know it is time to make a move.”
Since every participant in the game has another player as a target, it naturally creates a circle. Solving the order of the circle of names can be the key to winning the game. Joining an alliance is a good strategy for members trying to debunk the circle of names, although alliances can easily be broken, which adds to the suspense. “No matter how awful you are to your friends in trading them and selling them and betraying them, you’re always still friends after the game is over…hopefully,” West said.
The last two players left in the game are named “godfathers” for the following year’s game. Juniors Brett Favano and Zachary Ferguson are the “godfathers” for this year. The “godfathers” are in charge of creating the circle, administering the target names and settling disputes — basically acting as referees.
“My freshmen year, Assassins was one of the things that got me to meet a lot of the upperclassmen,” Favano said. “Not that I did not already know them, but it gave me more of a reason to actually talk to them. Rather than just admiring them from afar — I actually interacted with them.”
With 110 members playing this year, the game could last for well over a month. Although it is just a game, the tradition of Assassins is successfully bridging the gap between the freshmen and the upperclassmen of men’s social club Chi Sigma Alpha.
