In case you didn’t know, every Tuesday and Thursday from 12:15-1:30, there are no classes. This means professors and students are all free to eat lunch, take a walk or as you’ll see, do some pretty crazy things. Here are some of my favorite things I have seen during the common hour, just in the last few weeks:

1. Chewbacca and a princess reverse trick-or-treating

The Thursday before Halloween was a pretty normal one, save for a pair of students who decided to bring some spirit to the school by passing out candy to anyone who would take it.

2. Grown men in dresses playing full contact rugby on the Great Lawn

Yes, this happened, and yes, it was glorious. The CNU rugby club team recently held its “dude looks like a lady” game to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research. This annual event gathered a fairly large crowd, and was genuinely entertaining for everyone who saw it.

3. Philanthropy, philanthropy, philanthropy

There are around 20 Greek organizations on campus, each of which devise clever events to raise money for their respective philanthropies. Generally, these happen in the common hour, and provide entertainment due to how goofy so many of these events can get. One of the most common ones is to pay a small amount to be able to pie a member in the face or bombard them with water balloons.

4. Midterms week shenanigans from the Center for Academic Success

Knowing that Captains get extra stressed during midterms, the Center for Academic Success sought to lighten the mood a little bit by passing out cookies in the library. This normally would have been enough, but they decided to dress up in a Cookie Monster costume, which, at least for me took a lot of stress off and gave me a good laugh.

5. Professors hanging out with their students

Everyone knows that office hours are a great time to get extra help for a class, but some students would rather just have a chat with their professor instead. During the common hour, it is pretty normal to see Einstein’s Cafe packed with faculty and students just sitting around and talking to each other. This is one of the great things about being at such a small school, because the professors have time to get to know their students on a personal level.

Homecoming in college is one of the most special events of the year. Alumni come home to visit old friends, and faculty get to reconnect with former students to see how they’re doing. This is what happens at every university in America, and it’s a great thing – but as Captains, we strive to do so much more!

Helping raise awareness for sexual assault victims through The Shadow Event, a night where some Captains share their journey from pain to healing.

Dancing like fools in the Trible Plaza while participating in Yell Like Hell to support our Homecoming court candidates.

Selling out the Ferguson Center for the Arts for a glow-in-the-dark a cappella concert, followed immediately by a giant pep rally to introduce the men’s and women’s basketball teams – which lasts well into the night.

All capped off with the Homecoming football game, complete with fireworks and a performance from the Marching Captains (plus the alumni band).

These are all just some of the things that make being a part of Christopher Newport so special during this week, and made me realize how great it is to be a Captain. In high school, I thought the best part about Homecoming was dressing up for different spirit days, but then I got to college and realized that people *gasp* actually go to events during Homecoming week! This was the best change, and it acted as a great stress reliever and distraction from tough schoolwork. Whether it was supporting my friends as they sang, or supporting fellow Captains who have dealt with sexual assault, all of these events brought the CNU community together.

The other part of Homecoming which is different from the culture in high school is that alumni want to come back and see people – which is one of the best things ever. My favorite part about this was seeing all of the band alumni come back to play with the Marching Captains. As a member of the Marching Captains myself, it was really powerful to meet alumni from as long ago as 2012, who still come back every year to play with us, because they love this school so much and want to stay involved in our community.