Socks are no longer meant to be worn on the feet of Penn seniors. In the senior class game of Assassins, they are vicious, powerful, disastrous weapons that can mean the difference between life and death.
In honor of the annual Feb Club tradition -- a month of events held by the senior class -- senior class board members have organized what participants are calling an enthralling game of Assassins.
"What could be more fun for a senior than spending a month in a drunken stupor, staggering around campus attempting to maim someone with a pair of rolled-up socks?" asked the Game Master, who is currently unable to reveal his or her identity for the sake of the game.
The game began at 2 a.m. on Feb. 2, and the third round began yesterday at exactly 12:01 a.m., according to the Game Master.
The Assassins game began with a total of 116 seniors, but only 31 advanced to the second round.
According to the Game Master, "the rolled-up pair of socks must travel from the assassin's hand to the victim's body. It does not matter if the sock is thrown at the victim, pelted at the victim [or] placed in the victim's mouth -- though please do not do that. That is particularly nasty."
"The class board is especially having fun with Assassins," said Senior Class President Meredith Seidel, who is in the College. "Those who are doing it, are enjoying it."
The game began when the Game Master sent out an e-mail informing participants about their mission and the two other seniors they needed to kill before the end of the first round.
"You have until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday [Feb. 5] to kill your targets and inform me of the assassinations," the Game Master said.
The Game Master added that the participants needed to send an e-mail to him or her by the end of the round, because "who says the dead can't talk? [And] best of luck. You never know who's behind you holding a pair of socks."
College senior Chris Padilla ended up in purgatory after the first round.
"I took part in the game," Padilla said, "because I had never played before, and it sounded like fun. Imagine trying to find two students in a class of 1,700 and trying to watch your back for students trying to kill you."
He added that "it got nerve-wracking at one point, so much so that I couldn't eat at the dining hall for fear of being eliminated."
College senior Shahnaz Radjy also said she got wrapped up in the game.
"I was woken up from my nap by a resident knocking on my door, but as I looked through the peephole, I saw a girl poised with a sock in her hand. It was [College senior] Elise Ryan, my killer," Radjy explained.
"I tried to throw a few socks at her by opening my door a crack, but my aim was so horrendous that I failed miserably. ... Finally, after 10 minutes of uncertainty, I left my room with as many socks as I could fit in my belt, plus two in my hands, plus an open Penn umbrella," Radjy added.
Nevertheless, students still have thoroughly enjoyed this Feb Club event because "killing with a sock [is] the ultimate good, clean family game," Padilla said.
Ultimately, the winner of the game will be awarded with an MVP beer mug, according to Seidel.
Seidel added that those seniors who attend all the Feb Club events will also receive this mug for their time and dedication to the senior class.
"The current sophomore class board organized a game of Gotcha very similar to Assassins ... for the entire freshman class last year," the Game Master said. "That was where the idea for an Assassins game during Feb Club originated."
