XCP Gators “can’t stop, won’t stop moving” as they dive into the new school year with the annual fall sports rally. As part of tradition, Xavier had its first rally of the year to kick off school spirit and to remind all the students of why they love Xavier. Rallies are a big part of the school and many students describe rallies as their favorite events of the year.
“The student council does a really good job getting the crowd excited and it’s really fun seeing everyone in our class come together,” junior Maya Nagaraj said.
But what set this rally apart from years past was the Taylor Swift theme and the tie between the freshman, junior and senior classes.
A vital part of all rallies is the theme, as everyone looks forward to what Xavier’s Executive Board, composed of seniors, comes up with. This year, the board thought to incorporate a most beloved singer, Taylor Swift, by making the theme the “Battle of the Taylors.”
Executive board member Holland Carey said, “Exec board spends the weeks leading up to the rally preparing for what direction we want to take, such as creating our video, the theme and costumes.”
A different Taylor Swift album was given to each class to fulfill the Battle of the Taylors theme. The freshmen received “Lover,” the sophomores assumed “1989,” juniors gathered “Reputation” and the seniors acquired “Red.”
On the day of the rally, all Gators did not come to just play. The fall sports teams, cross country, volleyball, badminton, mountain biking, golf, swim and dive and spiritline each performed a dance in correlation to the theme. A group of teachers even joined in on the fun, and showed off its own dance to Taylor Swift’s song “You Belong with Me,” bringing laughter and joy from the student section.
When recounting being a part of the student section in the rally, junior Kiera Basco said, “I think rallies are really beneficial for us to come together as a community.”
Of course, it would not be a Xavier rally if not fueled by friendly competition. After the fall sports teams performed, it was time for the long-anticipated class dance battle.
The freshman, sophomore, junior and senior student councils each performed dances requiring a lot of work, including impressive stunts and songs relating to T-Swift albums. Each class also participated in a scream-off to see who was the loudest and showed the most school spirit.
Once the dance battle and scream-off were over, the suspenseful wait for the winning class began. After the votes were in, the Executive Board announced that there was a tie between the freshmen, junior and senior classes. This came as a surprise to everyone, as a three way tie is not common for Xavier’s rallies. But since there had to be a winner, judges gave the victory to the juniors.
“I felt very happy about the win and that it was well-deserved, especially for this being the first rally of the year,” junior student council president Joslyn Jenkins said.
Carey commented on the three-way tie by saying, “Even though it was very controversial, it stood out as a testament to how hard everybody worked.”
