Meet Nicole Darnall, a DePauw alum, who did her senior seminar on the Monon Bell game and it’s long history of rivalry. This documentary doesn’t only get us excited for fall and football season, but also makes us realize that this tradition is one of the many things that makes DePauw so remarkable. It’s definitely an experience the graduating seniors will truly miss.
Her Campus: First, we would like to know the inspiration behind the making of The Untold Stories of the Monon Bell: A Documentary.
Nicole Darnall: Grant Walters and I started talking about this idea about a year and a half ago. At the time, I was doing my Media Fellows internship in Chicago and he was doing his in Cape Town. Both of us are very passionate about DePauw football and wanted to really explore something that has managed to impact every single DePauw student in one way or another.
HC: Wow, certainly some hard work that definitely paid off in the end! What were you hoping DePauw students would gain after watching it?
ND: I grew up in a very DePauw-oriented family…both of my parents are alums, all four of my grandparents, and so on. Because of that, I’ve always known how big the Monon game is. But, I wanted other students to understand just what we’re a part of. As students, it’s just a huge game on the second Saturday of November. What we don’t realize during our four years is this rivalry has impacted the last 122 years of DePauw students and is something we’ll carry with us even after we leave Greencastle.
HC: Having released your documentary, how does it feel to finally be done with your seminar and for it to have been such a success?
ND: It’s such a relief. This documentary was truly a labor of love and there were some late nights involved, especially toward the end (although Grant can attest that I’m not much help after midnight). To receive all of the positive feedback is truly indescribable, though. I’m very proud of what we made.
HC: From the research done on Monon, to interviewing past football players and from having such an ingrained perspective of DePauw’s history, how has hearing about the impact the game has on DePauw students—especially after they leave—been for you as graduation quickly approaches?
ND: This past week has been crazy emotional for me, but hearing how passionate alumni are about a single game that happened forty years ago gives me the confidence that even though I’m leaving, this place won’t leave me. DePauw has left its mark on my heart and I can only hope that I left a mark on campus. This place is so special and there truly is no way to realize just how much it means to you until you get to the end and want to relive it all over again.
HC: You should be so proud of yourself though, not only for this incredible documentary, but also for making it to the end of undergrad! Now what we are all wondering, will you be coming back for Monon next year?
ND: Without a doubt. I honestly plan on attending the bell game every year for the rest of my life. I didn’t make a documentary for nothing!
Be sure to check out the documentary yourself, if you haven’t already seen it! Also a HUGE congratulations to all the recently graduated seniors, we will miss you! Cheers to you, Old DePauw!
Use the password: Monon