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Puddle Pull celebrates 60th anniversary

Taylor Smith

Fraternities and sororities gathered in the rain Sunday to cheer on their pledges in the 60th annual Delta Upsilon Puddle Pull, hosted by Delta Upsilon and Alpha Omicron Pi. Puddle Pull was founded by alumnus Frank Dodd in 1949 and has remained a tradition at Miami ever since, according to Drew Sturtevant, president of Miami's chapter of Delta Upsilon.

"We had a bunch of our alumni, about 50, come in for the Puddle Pull," Sturtevant said.

"Puddle Pull is a variation of tug-of-war," said sophomore Denny O'Malley, public relations director of Delta Upsilon. "There have been a couple changes in the rules but it has basically remained the same. Originally, there was a puddle of mud in between the two teams, which the losing team would be pulled into but it is no longer used."

During Puddle Pull, each fraternity and sorority has a team of eight people, with two alternates. The teams pull against each other for two minutes during the elimination rounds and three minutes during the championship.

"Usually the tug-of-war is won by inches," O'Malley said. "It gets very intense."

This year the fraternity championship round was between Sigma Pi and Delta Tau Delta. Delta Tau Delta beat Sigma Nu in the three-minute pull. The sorority championship round came down to Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Omicron Pi. Alpha Delta Pi took home the title after defeating Alpha Omicron Pi.

The event benefited Delta Upsilon's philanthropy, the Boys and Girls Club, and Alpha Omicron Pi's philanthropy, the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation. This was the first year the profit, which totaled $2,500, was split between the two.

"This is by far the biggest event Delta Upsilon has," O'Malley said. "It is the most important thing next to initiation and rush. We look forward to it all year and take a lot of pride in it."

Puddle pull has been a top priority for the past couple of weeks, O'Malley said.

"We put a lot of emphasis on it," O'Malley said. "I want it to be really exciting for everyone to watch."

Hannah Miller, a first-year member of Phi Mu, said the 60th anniversary of Puddle Pull had a lively crowd.

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"It was really cool to see how the Greek community all came together," Miller said. "It was really cold and rainy, but everyone was still out there cheering each other on."