After roughly six inches of snow fell throughout the day, students across the tri-campus knew, finally, the first snowball fight was imminent. Even before the stroke of midnight, hundreds of students from Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s gathered on South Quad for the annual tradition.
Students ran around chasing friends or strangers, screaming with delight over the sudden conflicts and rivalries. One student shouted, “Someone pelted me in the head, and I can’t find where they are.”
A snow castle was erected outside of South Dining Hall before the fight began by students from Baumer Hall, replete with the hall name etched in snow. The castle was destroyed before midnight by a group wielding a Baumer flag.
Students were spotted wielding red and blue lightsabers and facing off while dodging snowballs from the crowd. Looking out across the quad, the light emitted from the blades stood out like Christmas lights.
The Notre Dame Glee Club sang Christmas carols together outside the Knights of Columbus clubhouse, brandishing foam swords. Christmas music rang from various loudspeakers and phones spread throughout the quad.
Another large crowd formed around a group that was participating in Oklahoma drills, where two people face off in a small space and try to get past each other. Shouts and cheers sprang from the mosh pit every few minutes.
Most people bundled up for the cold temperatures which were approximately 25 degrees Fahrenheit. However, a few were spotted donning skimpy wrestling uniforms and brawling in the snow. Others wore nothing but a simple sweater or even a tank top. A few male students chose to not wear a shirt at all.
Another two students created a makeshift pulley system with a bicycle and a desk chair covered in Christmas lights. One student sat in a chair, holding onto a rope, while the other struggled to pull him along the snow-covered sidewalks.
The snowball fight lasted roughly an hour. As the tumult began to die down, a student with her friends walked past the South Dining Hall and commented, “I can’t believe this is my last one.”
