UChicago is getting even more intense this week! Today marked the beginning of the annual weeklong winter festival, commonly known as Kuvia. Sponsored by the Council on University Programming (COUP), Kuvia involves students waking up before dawn to take part in a daily morning exercise routine and various activities led by a wide range of athletic clubs on campus. It culminates on Friday with a salutation to the sun at The Point and later in the day, the ‘Polar Bear Run’, a barely (or not at all) clothed dash from one end of campus to the other!
Kuvia is short for Kuviasungnerk/Kangeiko and is a tradition that began in the winter of 1983. It was originally designed to replace a University-sponsored orientation program that sent freshman students to Greenbay, WI for a weekend winter retreat. After poor weather forced this tradition to be cancelled, Sociology professor and former Dean of Students Don Levine suggested that the University put on a winter festival as a replacement. Associate Dean of Students, Jean Treese, named the festival after the Inuit word Kuviasungnerk, which means “pursuit of happiness”. The Kangeiko part of the title comes from a suggestion of Levine’s that was due to his passion for martial arts. He believed that the festival should incorporate Kangeiko, which is a morning exercise regimen performed by Japanese Samurai.
The festival was designed to unite students and faculty, and get them excited and motivated for what many regard as the most depressing quarter of the year. Its enduring popularity proves that it does exactly that. After its beginning 30 years ago, there are a constantly increasing number of participants year on year as each house vies to win the participation award, which Alper House came away with last year. So if you’re brave enough to carry on the tradition of Kuvia you will gain a great sense of achievement, house pride and most importantly a free t-shirt!