During the week of April 6–11, the Grand Marshal Week Committee held many events. Three different t-shirts were revealed over the week, with free wings from The Ruck offered with the purchase of a t-shirt on some of the days. Dozens of clubs and fraternities held events and fundraisers, including Alpha Phi Omega, Colleges Against Cancer, Habitat for Humanity, Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Lambda Phi, Red & White, Rensselaer Christian Association, RPI Crew, Sheer Idiocy, Rensselaer Music Association, Rensselaer Outing Club, Rensselaer Pride Alliance, RPI Quidditch, Tau Beta Pi, and weR. GM Week is a long-standing tradition at RPI. This year, it was Viking-themed. Members of the committee wore Viking-themed headdresses.
It used to be that GM Week had no classes. Before the drinking age was changed to 21, free beer was served. Nowadays, there is just one day with no classes—and there is no free beer. The Armory is filled with bounce toys, including a gigantic slide. Clubs table with food, fundraisers, and other goodies. The RMA Jazz Festival took place in the Armory as well. On Election Day, students who vote receive free mugs, which they can bring to the Phalanx Honors Society table to fill with root beer. Candidates for various offices, especially GM and President of the Union, hand out free food, candy, and drinks. This year, because of the high voting turnout, GM Week ran out of mugs before the end of the afternoon. The mugs this year were larger than normal. During elections, the weR Proud event consisted of taking photos of student groups dressed up in gear related to their particular group. Red & White held a Family Feud-style game in the McNeil Room. Some of RPI’s a capella groups performed a show.
Assistant Dean of Residence Life Randi Mogul won Meanest Man On Campus, an annual fundraising tradition run by Alpha Phi Omega. RPI Crew did a 24-hour erg-a-thon, also for charity. A contest called “Anything that Floats” took place in the Robison Pool on Wednesday. The Drunken Bastards had the best race time, while the Life Boat team won the Reduce Reuse Recycle award. Circle K, Engineering Ambassadors, and UP won the Best Propulsion, Outside the Box, and Driest Captain awards, respectively. Despicable Me was judged to have the best team theme, while Tech Dumps took the Team Spirit award. The Most Sea Worthy entry was Salty Dogs. Dozens of other fundraisers and competitions were also held.
On Friday, the finale dinner was held. Free dinner was provided. The finale was supposed to end in elections results, but due to the Rules and Elections Committee’s technical difficulties and the poster scandal, results were delayed until Monday. Several events, including RPA’s Drag Show, a Sheer Idiocy performance, and the Rusty Pipes Spring Invitational were held later that night or Saturday.
Ibby Ottman ’14, president of the GM Week Committee, said “I’m very proud of how GM Week 2014 turned out and I can’t give enough credit to the members of the rest of the GM Week committee. We came up with some great events, got more club participation than ever before, and of course created mugs that were bigger and better than ever! I look forward to seeing the next steps the GM Week Committee will take to continue the progress of this event!”