by Courtney LeMay, as published in a 2009-2010 issue of the Asbury Collegian
Students rushed to Reasoner Green on Wednesday evening to join in the campus-wide fight that broke out around 7:30 p.m. Armed with weapons as varied as the selection at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Asburians came from all corners of the college to have fun and relieve stress in a giant pillow fight. Students grabbed whatever fluffy artillery they could find; one young man even used a couch cushion. Feathers were flying, figuratively speaking, for the approximately thirty minutes of “gladiator-style” pillow fighting.
This pillow fight is the first event hosted by the Not-So-Special Events Committee this year. However, several other events are being planned for this semester, according to Greg Weinberger, committee chair member. When asked about the planning that went into the pillow fight, Weinberger said, “It was just an idea Olivia posed to me over the summer, and we just kind of ran with it.”
“It’s a fun idea,” said Vice President for Student Activities Olivia Wardwell. “When you were small, didn’t you have pillow fights?” This pillow fight was not just for fun though; there were prizes to be won. Three outstanding fighters were rewarded with $10 iTunes gift cards as well as the much coveted titles of “Best Biff,” “Worst Injury,” and “Best Technique.”
Freshman Thaddeus Stewart won the “Best Technique” award, but that was just an added bonus. “I thoroughly enjoyed it because I substituted it as my workout routine,” said Stewart. “I was going to go running, but I don’t think I need to anymore.”
“Best Biff” winner Chuk McCray enjoyed getting to meet new people at the pillow fight. “It enabled me to reach other people…so I can hit whoever I like, it’s really wonderful.” It seems that he was not the only person with this mentality. His friend Jacob Mendelson’s face lit up as he excitedly said, “I took down Chuk.” In response, McCray only said, “Yeah, he did. But I also smashed him.”
Nathaniel Glass, winner of the “Worst Injury” title, could not be found for comment.
Asbury students were not the only people to enjoy the fight. Dustin Collier, a student at the University of Kentucky, managed to find his way onto the battle field, carrying a pillow borrowed from someone whose name was “either Tyler or Kyle, I can’t remember.” Collier had been visiting some friends when he heard about the pillow fight and decided to join in.
The Red Bull Wiiings Team also stopped by to see how the event was going, giving away enough Red Bull and Sugar-Free Red Bull to fill two backpacks. One Wiiings Team member said they were giving away Red Bull “to just kind of help you guys stay awake so you can beat the crap out of each other with pillows.”
Mendelson, a member of the Fearless class, compared the fight to the World’s Largest Water Balloon Fight held by Christian Student Fellowship last August on the University of Kentucky’s campus. He said that the water balloon fight was bigger, but this event was definitely the biggest pillow fight he had ever participated in. His only regret was that some people were missing out on the fun. “I wish more of the campus would show up, but it’s a good idea.”