Fans of Harry Potter may remember Hogwarts’ House Cup as a symbol of unity and pride for the wizarding school’s residential houses. Taking a page from the beloved fantasy books, Duke is bringing back the Quad Cup for a second year.
Hosted by Duke Student Affairs in collaboration with QuadEx, the interquad competition seeks to foster a sense of community and school spirit. Launched for the first time in spring 2024, the Quad Cup invites students on both East Campus and West Campus to represent their quad through events and challenges.
“Friendly competitions are an opportunity to strengthen community, channel some of our students' competitive spirit, give students the chance to be part of a team and foster a little joy on campus,” wrote Ben Adams, senior associate dean of students for QuadEx, in a Jan. 10 email to The Chronicle. “Who doesn't love a good competition with big prizes on the line?”
Students score points for their Quad by attending Quad Cup events. Students who form teams and compete in challenges can win even more points, with additional prizes on the table for the victors.
The Quad with the highest overall point tally is crowned champion, taking home the Quad Cup Trophy and earning a “significant” party as the grand prize.
So far, after the first two events — a “Minute to Win It” competition hosted in partnership with Duke University Union, and the East Campus Olympics, hosted by the Devils After Dark team — Edens Quad leads with 167 points, followed by Crowell Quad at 120 points and Few Quad with 116 points. Kilgo Quad trails with seven points.
This year’s Quad Cup seeks to build on the momentum of 2024's. To Adams, the secret ingredient lies in partnering with groups on campus that already have “a lot of energy.”
The Quad Cup kicks off this semester with the Night of Lights Walkathon, where teams will compete to see how many laps they can complete around Morris Williams Track in three hours.
The winners will receive points that going toward both tenting and the Quad Cup, as well as seated tickets behind the Duke bench for a men's basketball game and on-court recognition. The event — a partnership with the Krzyzewskiville line monitors and campus wellness departments — will take place Friday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Bricks to Stone is also returning in the form of a Quad Cup event, which Adams describes as “a competition to see who can host the best welcome party.”
A new event this year is Quad Cup PITCH, hosted in collaboration with Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship. In the Shark Tank-style competition, students will work in teams to design and pitch a solution related to President Vincent Price’s strategic priorities. The winning Quad will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to network with entrepreneurs and alumni.
Junior Tara Singh, co-president of Keohane Quad Council — the reigning champion of the Quad Cup — reflected on last year’s competition.
“I think having Quad Cup be a catalyst to encourage people to do different types of events was really powerful, especially because with my class, it was the first time QuadEx was becoming a thing,” she said. “… I think it gave good guidelines … to allow people to engage with their Quads.”
Singh recalled that Bricks to Stone was her personal favorite Quad Cup event, especially with the added festivities put together by the Keohane Quad Council.
“We threw ‘Keochella,’ which is a $12,000 music festival [and] Bricks to Stone celebration party,” Singh said. “… We had live musicians who were student artists, invited all the first years to come party with us [and] printed custom merch — that was our crowning achievement last year.”
According to Singh, “Keochella” will be back again this year with a new theme.
Looking to the future, Adams and his team plan to add more ways to score points beyond the main events.
“We’ll get there,” he wrote. “It just takes time to roll out new initiatives.”
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Ananya Pinnamaneni is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.