April Reign, the weekend-long celebration centered on competition and spirit, was held this past weekend on Baldwin Wallace campus and around Berea.
For months, this weekend has been hyped—from brief mentions of the highlighted events starting at the beginning of the semester to the preparation in the weeks prior.
April Reign kicked off the afternoon of April 10 with the obstacle course and tricycle race—a new event this year, replacing the boating competition—at George Finnie Stadium. Of all the events of the weekend, obstacle course saw the highest number of competing teams, thanks to the new addition of coed teams. Coed teams included Commuter Activity Board (CAB), student veterans (Vets), BW’s radio station (Sting), Theatre Arts Production (TAP), women’s soccer (RECCOS), and an independent team called GDI.
Obstacle also featured humorous additions from various teams, including a race of costumed condiments from members of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. Sigma Phi Epsilon took first place in the obstacle course for the men’s teams, RECCOS and GDI tied for the win in the women’s bracket, and Vets took the title for the coed teams.

Students goofing around on the Tressle Stadium during Friday’s obstacle tournament. Photo credit: University Relations

The tricycle race followed, in which participants from each team were spread to four places around the track, where each team member would trade off the tricycle in a relay-race style. At each corner, participants were required to complete a challenge inspired by the hit television show “Minute to Win It”; either the challenge was completed, or the race for that team would be paused for the full minute.
Sigma Phi Epsilon took the win once again for the men, Alpha Gamma Delta placed first for the women, and CAB placed first in the coed division. The competitive events for the evening were followed with the Campus Entertainment Productions’ concert featuring headliner Asher Roth in the Lou Higgins Center, where students gathered for a raucous show that included lots of audience involvement and crowd surfing from the rapper. Performances from Cleveland DJ Bobby Booshay and the band Air Dubai were also feaured.
Saturday’s competition began with the infamous tug of war matchup on the beach of Wallace Lake that involved sand pits (for the men’s teams) and weeks—or, in the case of long-standing women’s champions, Alpha Gamma Delta, months—of prior training across the board.
By mid-morning, the tug competition had reached the semi-finals stage and was intersected with the first round of the Pyramid competition. Prior to this year, the pyramid event had been held at Finnie stadium; the muddy environment on the lawn in front of Wallace Lake proved to be an added challenge for every team. Teams are required to crawl under metal beams to the other side of the designated area and form the pyramid, competing for fastest time.
By mid-afternoon, Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity took home the victory for men’s tug, and Alpha Gamma Delta secured first place to retain their now decade-long dynasty for the women. For the Pyramid Competition, Phi Kappa Tau placed first for the men, and Alpha Phi took home the gold for the women.
After the event awards had been presented, awards focusing on team spirit and t-shirt design were presented, followed by the the overall team awards, calculated through a system adding teams’ scores from all of the weekend’s events.
The men’s winner was Sigma Phi Epsilon, and the women’s champion was Alpha Phi.