Thursday, March 19th, Hampton University held its annual Battle of the States competition. In celebration of the 5 regions (South, North, Midwest, DMV, and West), students packed Ogden Hall to root on their home team. The underdog came out on top as the North stole the title from the long reigning champs, the South. Placing second this year was the South and coming up in third was the Midwest.
Battle of the States (BOTS) is a part of Freshman Week. Every year, freshman representing the 5 regions – West, Midwest, South, DMV, and North, compete for a years worth of bragging rights on campus. The past three years, those bragging rights belonged to the South, but now there’s a new winner in town. This year the competition required the regions to pass the first round consisting of the fashion and dance portion. After that, the three remaining regions compete for the title in the second round consisting of the talent portion. BOTS was heavy with movie and television themes this year. The West put a Crips and Bloods twist to Romeo and Juliet (which seemed a little risqué), the Midwest paid homage to the recent current events of their region with an American Horror Story theme, the South chose the Disney classic The Lion King, and Hairspray’s bright, colorful nature went better for the DMV than their themes from the past. However, the Avengers is the theme that won the North their title. Students belted out “Norfside!” and swept the state upon the announcement. Congratulations to OPhiO ’16 for completing another Hampton University right of passage.