House Namesake Competition Shakes Up House Cup Standings
Graphic Credit: Brent Buterbaugh
On Tuesday evening, King’s students filed out of the Regal Cinemas Theater 4, the sound of the House of SBA, chanting “raid, raid, pillage and burn!” fading on their way out as the house celebrated their first place win in the House Namesake Competition.
Each house was charged with creating a 6-8 minute video in which they would “[...] choose one their house values and describe how your namesake embodied that value.”
For the House of SBA, that value was “Life.” Their video showcased five house members who went on a road trip seeking to learn more about their namesake and learned about the messiness yet beauty of life as well.
This was Director Marina Barham’s second time creating a video for this competition, and her house celebrates the win as a redemptive one after an unexpected loss two years ago. Junior Holly Shavelle remembered Barham’s previous video well.
“It was so beautiful, and we were all so disappointed when it didn’t place well. So it’s very sweet for her video to win this year,” Shavelle said. She also loved that the video represented the house so well, saying that however messy they are they truly do love being together.
The house president from Shavelle’s freshman year commented on the @houseof_sba celebratory Instagram post, commenting “justice has been served!”, again displaying the support the entire house has for Barham.
The houses that earned second and third place — the House of Queen Elizabeth I (QE1) the House of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, respectively — were equally proud of their work.
What QE1 Scholar Annabel Hutchinson loves about the competition is how unique each of the house films turned out in addition to the fact that the film gave her further opportunity to spend time with her housemates .
“Because we are so dedicated to spending time together and just having fun while we compete, coming together to do this was half the battle, and it was such a joy to be a part of that,” Hutchinson said.
Bonhoeffer’s Jackson Fordyce and House President Josiah Simons were thrilled to see a win for their house after a rocky road in competitions thus far. Jackson Fordyce worked with Chris Davis and second year student Nic Politi on the filming and editing of their Namesake video, saying the group “was pumped to get third. I’m very proud of the team and what we made, especially the work of Nic and Chris.”
Simons was equally as excited for the house, adding a second reason for celebration, “We received $50 for our third place finish. The House of Bonhoeffer will be living extravagantly for the next three months.”
The House of Winston Churchill, to the surprise of many students, finished at 8th place in the House Namesake Competition. Their Helmsman Colin Phillips was still proud of the work they did, and acknowledged that there were valid penalties that led to a lower score.
“We only had about 36% attendance...so that severely hurt our scoring.” Phillips also took responsibility for the video’s lateness due to confusion about the time of day it was required to be completed and turned in. “That said, I would love to see where we would have placed without these penalties...it may have been unfair” said Phillips, although he admits to being “extremely biased” as someone who put many hours into the film.
The House of C.S. Lewis placed fourth, solidifying their position in first place, but SBA’s win placed them in second place for the House Cup, replacing The House of Margaret Thatcher who have been knocked to 6th. There is now only a ten point difference between the House of Lewis and the House of SBA for first place, and the House of QE1 remains a strong contender as they return to 3rd place after a brief time in 7th. The current house standings will remain until Interregnum XV commences.