On Thursday, NYU students competed in the All-University Games, an annual competition among 11 NYU schools and organizations that marks the ending of NYU’s official spirit week, Violet 100. From the Tisch School of the Arts to the College of Dentistry, NYU students participated in a variety of games including dodgeball, air hockey, basketball, tug-of-war and table tennis at the Paulson Center. 

Before the event, SGA, along with the student councils from each NYU college, spent months preparing beforehand — gathering participants, coordinating matching attire and ensuring everything runs smoothly. The Student Government Association added air hockey and table tennis this year, replacing cup stacking. 

Tisch Drama sophomore Maya Vargas, the SGA V100 committee chair, oversaw all V100 events. She started the week with the SGA merchandise drops, followed by UltraViolet Live, the V100 concert featuring R&B singer Ravyn Lenae and rapper JT, the Violet Ball, and wrapped up the week with the All-University Games.

Vargas was responsible for allocating the $40,000 budget for this event, of which 50% was dedicated to covering the rental fee for the Paulson Center space, as well as the planning and preparation leading up to the event.

“As an event facilitator, there’s a weight on your shoulders throughout the event that makes you feel a bit nervous about the way things turn out,” Vargas told WSN. “But I felt that feeling wash away the second our teams got to begin competing against each other, and I saw everyone having a good time in this friendly competitiveness.”

Tisch sophomores AJ Sita and Sidd Anand, co-captains of their school’s team, were both involved in the preparation leading up to the games. In the first two rounds of the basketball tournament, they won against the Inter-Residence Hall Council and the Silver School of Social Work, but lost in the third round against the Graduate School of Arts and Science. 

“The biggest moment for me was when we won our first game,” Anand said. “We won against Silver, and admittedly, I think our team had very low expectations for what we would do. Winning against another team, especially a team that played pretty well, was a big deal for us — we genuinely had a lot of hope in that moment that we might be able to make a deep run into the bracket.”

“It was a lot of fun,” Sita said. “It was definitely an adrenaline rush, and just an awesome way to build community with the people I was playing with.”

The All-University Games came to an end with an award ceremony, with all teams circled around the trophy, awaiting the announcement of the winners. The Stern School of Business won first place, the Graduate School of Arts & Science came in a close second and the Grossman School of Medicine came in third.

“You can take this moment away from all of the seriousness and prestige that is NYU as a community and just really get together with what matters most, which is the bonds between us as students,” Vargas said.

Contact Julia Smerling at [email protected].