Cold Out Gold Out 2017
Travis Decker ‘18
Vice President External Relations
The Clarkson University Ice Carnival is fond memory cherished and shared by many Lambda DU Alumni. This past weekend was the second annual Cold Out Gold Out festival trying to renew this tradition, and rightfully so the Delta Upsilon chapter was at the forefront. This new winter festival, abbreviated COGO, is a revival and modern twist on the Ice Carnival that used to occur in Potsdam, starting in 1930. For about seventy years (from 1930 to the year 2000) an annual Ice Carnival was held in Potsdam. This weekend long competition would entail groups creating large scale ice sculptures, a creating of an ice obstacle course, ice skating performances and other events on an outdoor ice skating rink. An essential part of the Ice Carnival was the Ice Ball, where students would enjoy live music throughout the night. The Carnival would end with a Clarkson hockey game.
The above are photos of Brothers Justin, Jonah, and Raj (left) and Kyle, Christian, Danny, and Zach (right) competing in various tasks of the COGO Challenge.
The second Cold Out Gold Out started on Friday February 3rd with the COGO challenge. This was a series of five events that student teams competed in. The first event was the Blind Ball. Each team was blindfolded and had to sort five different types of balls (golf, tennis, basketball, etc.) into respective containers. The second challenge was the Obstacle Course. The components to this year's obstacle course included an agility ladder, a traffic cone slalom, and finally putting balls that had numbers on them into the correct numbered box. The third challenge was a take on the engineering design process. One person from each team was allowed to look at a LEGO structure that was already completed. This person then had to instruct their team how to build this LEGO structure based on their memory of the design. The team with the fastest time was declared the winner. The fourth challenge was the minefield challenge. An obstacle course had pieces of paper that represented mines. Teams had to successfully navigate the field without touching the mines. The final challenge was the hockey shot challenge. Each member of each team had three pucks and had to shoot goals from centre ice at Cheel Arena. The team with the most goals won this challenge. The Brothers of Delta Upsilon Fraternity won first place with a ten point lead on second place, with a total of 41 points. The grand prize was five front row tickets to the Clarkson v. Saint Lawrence hockey game the following day.
COGO continued on Saturday with many winter themed events. The morning kicked off with a leadership expo that was lead by Tony Collins. The expo consisted of seminars aimed at developing leaders, drawing on the expertise and advice of many notable alumni whom were in town for the festivities. Many brothers attended these events, all as a part of bettering themselves and trying to build better men.
Outdoors, there was multiple festivities. These included dog sled rides that were open to students. A professionally made ice sculpture was being carved to resemble the Clarkson Golden Knights logo. An Alumni hockey game took place on an outdoor ice rink constructed by Clarkson. Outside there was a hot chocolate tent run by the Delta Upsilon Fraternity and their Alumni. This was an incredibly successful event sponsored by the Alumni corp. The brotherhood was able to provide free hot chocolate which kept COGO attendees warm on a cold Potsdam day and brought great publicity to the fraternity. Additionally a Bingo game took place in the large COGO tent, as well as mingling of students and alumni over some dinner. Brothers as a part of the Clarkson Union Board helped to run these university events as well. The pep rally kicked off inside the tent then migrated to Cheel Arena. The Clarkson v. Saint Lawrence game ended in a Clarkson victory with a score of 3-1. Following the hockey game was open skate on the outdoor skating arena. During this, the COGO tent transformed into a bar, during which some alumni’s hockey jersey’s were raffled off. Upon wrapping up the weekend’s festivities, those still around were treated to a small fireworks show.
This second Cold Out Gold Out festival organized by Clarkson seems to be headed on the right track. The spirit of the old ice carnival was still alive in the alumni’s that experienced it first hand. This energy quickly transcribed into the recent alumni and undergraduates excited to garner experiences of a lifetime. However, COGO coordinators seem to struggle with marketing these connections to the student body, as a majority of undergraduate attendees were members of greek organizations who had alumni come back up, encouraging their organizations to get involved. It is not seen as the marketing tool it is, and the team building exercises are viewed to be more childish then they are fun or helpful. All the better for us, as DU had a strong attendance at every event, making the weekend fun and beneficial.
Still missing from festivals of the past are the Ice Ball and ice sculpture contest. However, that didn’t stop some organizations from creating their own ice sculptures.
After a winter that looked bleak for any sort of winter festivity, it was decided that the brothers of Delta Upsilon would build an ice sculpture, two days before COGO weekend. Many alumni had great intentions of coming back to the house to show the undergrads the old ways and create something remarkable. Unfortunately, they canceled their plans when it appeared the weather wouldn’t cooperate. A snowstorm and a phone call to the president of the Alumni Corp was all that was needed to get this tradition back off the ground. On Thursday night the guys began construction on a Stanley Cup Trophy on top of a hockey puck base, the brainchild of alumni Paul Zolin. By the time James Conway had arrived on Friday evening, the a group of brothers had just about finished the trophy statue. Not wanting to miss out on the fun or willing to let his years slow him down, James decided we would build another statue. This time James and undergraduate president Kyle Tobin rallied the boys and got everyone involved, instead of the ten or so men that had built the Stanley Cup statue. Through the guidance of Alumni and an enthusiastic undergraduate chapter, Delta Upsilon created something truly to be proud of and has begun the revival of an old tradition. We hope to outdo ourselves next year and greatly encourage brothers from the glory days of ice sculptures to make the trip up and pass on their knowledge.
Please keep an eye out for next years COGO weekend! We will also be hosting an alumni reunion and cookout during Clarkson’s alumni weekend in July, 13th-16th. Come see the beautiful new house and recent landscaping, share a meal with brothers of all ages and take part in the annual Alumni Corp meeting!