By Leah Myers

The Kappa chapter of Lambda Alpha Upsilon Fraternity Inc. at the University of New Haven hosted several games of capture the flag with a twist: the risk of getting walloped with a water balloon.

The Lambda Wetdown, which was held in the Residential Quad on Saturday, Sept. 13 from noon to 4 p.m., was a way for the brothers to interact with campus and have fun.

The Lambda Wetdown is a LAU tradition that started in 2001. “It originated in our Beta chapter, which is in Rochester, NY,” said Christian Tabares, the treasurer of LAU. “Basically every other undergrad chapter has taken this event and incorporated it on their campus.”

The event is a “capture the flag” style game. Flags are put on each side of the quad, and the objective is to run to the opposite side and retrieve the flag without getting hit by water balloons. In between games, the dunk tank presented a challenge to plunge an LAU brother.

Senior Jordan Harris, a brother of the fraternity, helped run the Lambda Wetdown. Harris chose to join LAU because their values make him feel at home.

Usually the Lambda Wetdown is held in the spring semester, but the brothers decided to host it in the fall this year, to “switch things up,” said Tabares.

This year, six teams played. The different teams, made up of five to six people, included LAU brothers, Delta Phi Epsilon sisters, members of the Black Student Union, members of the Caribbean Student Association and two other teams called “No Flex Zone.”

Anyone on campus could make a team for the event. Students who didn’t have a team but wanted to participate could walk onto a team the day of the event.

“I had a lot of fun,” Adam Blacharski, team member of No Flex Zone, said. “The weather wasn’t that great, but the event was still was.”

The brothers kept track of the winners, but the event was less of a competition, and more of a way for UNH students to get involved and have fun, Tabares said.
“Next year, we might actually have prizes for the winning team,” he added.

Even LAU alumni were in attendance to support their brothers. Marcelino Class, a UNH graduate, said that when he was student, his favorite LAU memory was “the process of becoming a brother.”
Kristen McMullen, a sister of Phi Sigma Sigma, attended the event this year, and called it a complete success. “The brothers of Lambda Alpha Upsilon Fraternity Inc. have a creative mindset when it comes to getting involved with the students on campus,” she said. “They are very interactive with planning and participating in the event.”

McMullen added that you could see the excitement of both the students playing and the spectators as the event progressed. “It was a warzone of water balloons,” she said.

“Our turn out compared to the two years I have been involved has been the best one so far,” Tabares said. “Everyone who came to support actually participated and enjoyed themselves, which was the important thing.”

Other than the Wetdown, LAU hosts Deal or No Deal and Condor Carnival. LAU also collaborates with other Greek groups at Greek Explosion. On Sept. 18, they will host Copacabana: Bachata Night starting at 5 p.m. at the German Club.