The Winter Carnival at the Rensselaer Union had a variety of events for students to participate in during Election Day of Grand Marshal Week. This included performances and carnival games run by various student organizations, and prizes.
Some of the campus fraternities ran games, including a toilet paper toss by Theta Xi, where participants attempted to toss a roll of toilet paper into a makeshift toilet. Another game was a hockey shooting game by Chi Phi (pictured right), perfect for the RPI hockey fans who want to test their accuracy. This game was a lot harder than one would think, especially without any experience with a hockey stick.
There were many other games at the carnival too, one of which was jousting (pictured left). This was a crowd favorite, with a long line for most of the day. Moreover, the Dance Dance Revolution Club hosted a DDR game for students to play (pictured middle). Students were able to choose almost any song to dance to and everyone had a blast playing. There also was a Plinko board game on the Union Patio (pictured right) which many students rushed to since it was an easy source of tickets for the prizes inside.
The prizes at the carnival were very cute. There was a make-your-own plush station for the stuffed animal enthusiasts, a succulent station for all the plant lovers, Winter Carnival T-shirts and water bottles, and more. All of the prizes were crowd favorites, gone within the first few hours.
During the day there were many performances, including ones from the Ballroom Dancing Club and The Rusty Pipes a cappella group. Many students enjoyed these performances while eating lunch and relaxing in the Union. The Rusty Pipes sang an amazing a cappella version of “when the party's over” by Billie Ellish, amongst other songs. The ballroom dancers danced to “Glad You Came” by The Wanted and “All You Wanna Do” from the musical Six.
A carnival is never a carnival without delicious treats. Of the many sweets provided by Rensselaer Dining Services and the Union, there was root beer, cotton candy (top right), and mini churros (top middle). The root beer came with a mug that you could select from previous years GM Weeks (top left).
The Winter Carnival was a great incentive during GM Week to get students to go to the Union to vote and let them enjoy a day off from classes with all the carnival games and performances. We are excited to see what is in store for the Winter Carnival next year.
