Firestone Fieldhouse heard the songs and chants of first-year and transfer students at Frosh Follies, Pepperdine’s annual tradition.
As New Student Orientation (NSO) week unfolded, the House Cup Competition reached its peak during Frosh Follies — a two-part competition where first-year houses are divided into five teams and students perform chants and skits that are judged on creativity, enthusiasm, representation and performance by faculty and staff.
The event welcomed light-hearted performances that were equally fun and informative about the University’s stereotypes and its history, said former Resident Advisor Helena Mekuanint.
“You just get to have fun,” Mekuanint said. “It is all about the Pepperdine quirks and memories that we have all made here.”
First row and center sitting in the judges’ panel, President Jim Gash said he was pleasantly surprised to see that students focused on sharing the stories of Pepperdine.
“I learned and laughed and smiled until my face hurt,” Gash said.
Chants highlighted the limited parking spaces on main campus, the long waiting Grubhub at Starbucks and the International Program opportunities.
First-year houses Conner, Peppers, Hayes, E. Pen and Seaside chanted a remix of Pitch Perfect’s “I Saw the Sign,” which came after Pauley, Banowsky, White and Drescher Towers used the song for their own chant first.
The audience also enjoyed two “Bachelor” performances during the skits, which raised some tensions as creativity is one of the categories being judged.
All the hard work paid off for houses Pauley, Banowsky, White and Drescher Towers, who won with a clean sweep, according to Resident Advisor Abby Grant, team member of houses DeBell, Darnell, Eaton and Miller. While Grant’s team placed second for the chant and third for the skit, houses Crocker, Phillips, J. Pengilly, and Knott won second place in the skit and third in the chant.
Some resident advisors said that the first-years were hard to convince to be excited about performing.
“I had the role of teaching the freshman the skit,” Grant said. “They where somewhat hard to convince, but in the end they did a great job.”
Mekuanint sat in the audience throughout the entire event. She said Frosh Follies has been her favorite tradition since her first year at Pepperdine.
“Freshman year I participated as a student and had a good time,” Mekuanint said. “Then junior year I was J. Penn’s RA and I got to hype up students and write the chants and skits.”
She said last year, her team ended up winning both the chant and the skit.
“I’m back this year cheering for my team,” Mekuanint said.
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Contact Karla Suzuki via email: karla.suzuki@pepperdine.edu
